Paperless Bookworm

Can that be? I would rather say may not be 100% but this could be a process and one day I'll achieve.

Joining the kindle family would be one of the best investments in my life. I started to buy my very first kindle 4 in 2012 after a trial with using kindle app for 2 years. I recalled I finally finished autograph of Dr. Marie Curie in 2 weeks, comparing with that I had spent 2 years with my kindle app on my tab, yet finished!

Since them, I fell in love with my kindle. I expanded my knowledge on how to use this little device for different formats of e-books, and where to find the books I liked. All of sudden I noticed another advantage: I needed not buy books in paperback or hardcover anymore unless this is a book about cooking or photography. I needed not find new spaces for books in my 80% occupied little apartment.

In 2013 I was forced to move to another apartment. The hardcover and paperback books caused me trouble and headache. As there was only a walking distance between my old and new apartments, I didn't hire moving company at all. Instead, I packed my stuff into my suitcases, moved them one by one, day by day. In a month, I moved most of my stuff. Tired but manageable. The last item was my books and hand-writing notes that i have kept since university. After pondering for a little while, I threw most of my notes away and kept only the books I loved. But I still couldn't manage so many books. Finally I signed a 6 month contract to  rent a storage of 13 boxes, plus the box moving services. This is the shortest lease I could find. I thought I could deal with my books after I settled.

In fact I did. In 2015 I started to declutter my home. More books were taken out and given to charity. Remaining notes were scanned and trashed. I hoped my life could be getting more easy. At the same time, kindle and other third parties app were getting more mature to deal with PDF files, articles posted on web to be saved under Pocket etc. I also learned to make my own e-book using Sigil. I used my kindle more often. At the same time I switched to a kindle paperwhite for other reason (not so much about fancy for a new item). Thanks to the backlight, I could use this little device when I was waiting for a bus at night or when I snuggled in bed.

Another move happened in 2017. Again, I had to use the same storage again for moving books. But I bought more e-books instead of paperback. My paperback collection shrunk. I also stopped keeping magazine published by the professional institutes I joined.

In 2019 I made a big move, from Hong Kong to Singapore. This time my book collection was limited. Before the move I scanned and shredded another batch of notes. Almost all boxes of books were for my little monster. And I tried so hard to let her know what kindle is for. I will definitely buy her one after she is able to read chapter books. Kobo could be my choice for her as Kobo supports borrowing books from public libraries. I really want to share my kindle with her but regrettably, we do not live in the States so we cannot use kindle for the public library services.

One funny thing is, after moving, I could hardly receive any magazine with insightful articles from the professional institute I joined. After liaison, I was told that I could view from web. Eventually I found a way to convert the magazine into PDF format and push to my kindle. I used to read one paper magazine in two weeks and now I am able to finish one in 2 days. Only the articles interested me would be kept in my hard disk. How great it is!

I also joined a Facebook group about e-book reading at Taiwan. I can learn and share a lot with group members.  Features of different brands, different systems of e-book readers and platforms of buying e-books etc. That really excites a bookworm like me!

I hope someday I don't need a bookshelf at all, even for my little monster! I used to have a set of three bookshelves long time ago. Thankful God I realized the trouble of keeping physical books before my bookshelves were fully occupied!

P.S. I did write a simple guide for kindle first time user. The last update was 2017. Feel free to contact me if you need this simple guide.

Josh told me: Don't quit

More that a month that I couldn't write anything about decluttering or zero waste here. I was really not able to write under the pandemic. Bomb shelter has been filled with rice, toilet rolls, noodles, cooking oil, flour, milk, preserved food in cans etc. while the fridge was full of eggs, food for daily consumption. Whose kitchen, store room or bomb shelter isn't under such an atmosphere? You have to feed your family anyways. Every time I went into the kitchen, I just felt headache and defeated.

Not only bomb shelter, my room was stuffed with a brand new printer, paper, stationery these kinds of office equipment, plus my partner has to work from home. The last piece of land has been occupied that I could no longer take out any item for sorting or taking photos for selling or giving out via secondhand platforms! Not to mention your little monster surrounds you 7x24 now and you have one more role to play on top of the caregiver and parent: yes, being a teacher!

Okay! What teacher should have? You got it! teaching materials! You may argue total items at home won't be increased as you only use your existing paper to print your teaching materials. After cutting the paper, or painting, paper waste generated and you have to deal with them all. Either to recycle bin or to be used as a single side paper. Another load of tasks to be handled!

When I aired my frustration in the Facebook group "Becoming Minimalist", people gave me very good suggestions. Not so much about how to declutter but take the opportunity to get closer with family, you can wait a bit for decluttering. True but sad. Until last night...

While I read the book "The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own" by Joshua Becker. He said, "Don't quit!" He shared that he almost gave up his blog after a year of writing, also for about a month (Feb to Mar 2009). When he published a short post encouraging people to donate old prom dresses, a woman he had never met, left a just 3 words comment: "Come back, Josh." She was encouraging him to continue!

And now, he's encouraging me to continue on my decluttering journey! As he said, "decluttering a home is both physically exhausting and emotionally draining." Why not receiving this little encouraging words "Don't quit" as my motto. If you're under similar situation, please DON'T QUIT!