Purging Annie Dillard

or not

One of the ways I have been making (some) money is by selling books we no longer need to thriftbooks. The problem is, they want to buy the books that happen to be the same ones I want to keep (ha!). I have held off on selling the most beloved books for some time now, only keeping the ones that really matter to me (if you love books, you know how difficult it is to let any of them go…).

I have become somewhat of an expert on letting books go, though. Up until yesterday, I had already sold my entire collection of C.S. Lewis except the Chronicles of Narnia boxed set and his collected letters. I had also sold most of my Annie Dillard collection (honestly, this hurts to admit, because reading Annie Dillard is almost as nice as having tea with my best friend).

But yesterday I almost gave in and sold even more Annie Dillard. I didn’t, but it did cost my Chronicles of Narnia boxed set. That’s okay.

Every time I purge my collection, I spend time reading just to make sure I’m ready to let something go.

I have held on to this book of essays, which is a nice way of holding onto a little of each of Annie Dillard’s books, and has sort of justified letting books like The Writing Life go. I scanned the barcode to thriftbooks, realized they would pay me for it, and then opened it up to double check my feelings about it.

Then I read this passage:

And I realized there is absolutely no way I can let it go. Because her wisdom is bar none. Her writing is worth holding close. And it is worth sharing about. And in her encouragement (again) to me in this moment, I realized the importance (again) of sharing my writing. “The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful; it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”

So here I am today sharing this tidbit: sometimes it is okay to purge, and sometimes it is okay to keep. And it is always okay to share (actually, there is a collective yearning for you to share findings and wisdom from your own lived experiences!).

So here is a reminder to not keep things to yourself. Share away. Boldly. And with as much vulnerability as you can muster. Because the world needs your goodness just as much as it needs Annie Dillard’s.

“give it, give it all, give it now.” — annie dillard

See you soon.

<3,

Steph/Anie