Stuff, Stuff and more Stuff

When it comes to defining what type of item is the most populous kind in my life, you can find yourself easily at a deadlock. Food and books are the two things that have the larger presence in my life at the time, but books may end up being the winner if only because their existence is the most static and concrete in my house and food is quite transient. So, yes, books would be what I would safely say is the type of "stuff" that I have the most of for the confines of this blog entry.

How are books created? Well, you could probably find several documentaries on the subject (and I will bet you dollars to donuts that they're dryer than good British humor) that would be quite informative, but I personally don't know everything that goes into it. Common sense and knowledge would dictate that:

- Trees would need to be cut down or paper recycled or other organic matter processed.
- Ink and glue would need to be stewed up and processed.
- Each page would need to be shaped for the proper size and then having the lettering printed upon them.
- The book would need to be bound together and then shipped out to the stores they would be sold in.

Now how I use them is a silly question I must say. Books exist to be read, for their experience to enrich the life of the reader and for their message to be absorbed into the mind and soul of the one who picked it up and opened it. And if the reader finds the book compelling enough (which, if it's own my book shelf, I do think of it that way) they will read it again and again and again. Because a book never loses its luster or its attraction for the true bibliophile no matter how many times you read it. Yes, maybe the initial surprise and mystery is gone, but that never stops you from riding a roller coaster more than once, now does it?

Very rarely do I ever dispose of a book, but the it does occur once every blue moon. The book may have begun falling apart or was otherwise damaged, I may have gotten an anthology or updated edition or maybe I just outgrew what had once attracted me to the book in the first place (so far only books from my formative years and those god awful Harry Potter books fell into that last category). Regardless of why it's leaving my ownership, it doesn't leave my ownership with any flippancy. Damaged books are summarily recycled, as they should be, and books in good condition are given to a organization like the library or Good Will, who will see it taken care of in the way it deserves.

Could I do with less books?

Maybe.

But my life would most certainly be less and cheapened for that decision. Books are simply containers and gateways to a greater existence that humanity is only able to tap into and visit for short periods. Knowledge, both it's pursuit and accumulation, is what separates us as higher life forms and beings from the rest of the natural world around us. A dog could never conceptualize Middle Earth, Narnia or Neverland, but human beings can vicariously explore those worlds of wonder and intrigue by just picking up something a tiger would leave rotting on the trail as it pursues it's dinner.

No, I can bear the cross of my imprint on this world for the privilege to hold in my hands a lump of paper, glue and ink that holds such magic and limitless potential. That is a burden I could gladly own up to and not care for the consequences.

A book is something that can be obtained anywhere in the world and is accessible to individuals almost regardless of their walk of life (assuming that there isn't a force working to keep knowledge out of their hands, which sadly there are) and I will not believe for one second that my ownership of them makes anyone's life less well off or my forsaking of them making lives better (but whether my adding towards the company that made the book is positive or negative is another line of thought and discussion entirely). A book may be a want, not a need, of the living body but I believe with my whole heart that it is a need for the mind and for the soul. Humans could live in a world with out books...but what kind of world would that really be?