Kathi Lipp (00:05)
you

Well, hey friends welcome to clutter free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps Every day to live with less clutter and more life and guys ? I am flying solo today I wanted to just talk to you guys because this is All about a subject that is near and dear to my heart. It’s books. You know, I love me some books I know all of you love some books

? I love them so much I actually write them and I have a problem. I have too many books. I have ? books that I want to read, books I have read. I’ve got a lot of books. So if your shelves are draining your money, time, emotional bandwidth, ? energy, if your library is managing you, not the other way around, let’s fix that.

One shelf at a time 15 minutes a time. We can do this you guys So, ? let’s get started First of all books are wonderful. I am not anti-book. I cannot be anti-book. It is how I make my living It’s my favorite hobby. I love everything about books But I also want to frame this in saying I have often looked at books I don’t know if any of you do this, but let’s talk about it. I’ve often

framed books as a moral achievement. Like if I’ve read a book, boy, I need some brownie points. It got to the point where it’s like, okay, I bought the book, so I should get credit for that, right? So I wanna talk about how do we maintain our love for books because I am the last person who’s going to tell you that you shouldn’t be reading books. However, I am going to say in my world,

Listening to a book and reading a book moral equivalence. Whatever way I get that information ? Especially since you know, I am struggling with some challenges right now. And one of those is brain fog Being able to read a book is tougher than it used to be for me so listening to a book and I do need to go back and I need to rewind but ?

It’s okay because I want to enjoy the experience. I want to get as much as I can out of the experience. And for me, that often means listening to these books. But let’s talk about physical books today. I want your library to pay you back in several different ways. I want you to think about how your library can pay you back in money. ? I don’t want you to have to rebuy what you own.

And I know a lot of people end up doing that because they forget the books they have, they forget what they’ve got on the shelves, they can’t find what they need, did I lend that out, et cetera, et cetera. And guys, that’s not what I want for you. I want you to be able to find your books when you need them and be able to enjoy them. And sometimes that means that you are going to need to

cull your books and I know that feels very personal and very hard, but we’re gonna we’re gonna get through this together I also want your books to pay you back in energy I I want you to be able to get your library to a place where it’s not taking up space where you’re not tripping over Things you don’t have stacks now. I have stacks behind me because I like to use books to decorate as well That’s not the kind of stacks. I’m talking about. I’m like the stacks on stacks on stacks

That’s what I don’t want you to have. I also don’t want you to be spending your emotional bandwidth on books. No guilt piles, no shame stacks. We’re not doing that anymore. Friends, we’re just not doing it. We’re not gonna have a TBR, to be read pile on our nightstand. We can have a shelf of that, but we’re not doing it on our nightstand, friend. And time so you can find what you need when you need it. That’s what I want for each and every one of you.

Okay, so the first thing we’re gonna do is declutter. And I want you to think about this in 15 minute spreads, okay? Your boundary, you know, we talk about two feet by two feet by one foot. Let’s think about it in a shelf. I’ve got some shelves that are bigger than others, but I can get through an entire shelf in 15 minutes. So I wanna give you some key questions that you can ask yourself about whether to keep the book or to pass it on.

So here’s the first clarifying question. Would I buy or borrow this book again? If the answer is no, you can probably get rid of it. Number two, will I start or reference this book in the next 12 months? I’ve got some books that I ordered, and I’m like, ? I was really excited about it when I ordered it from, ? I use an app, I’ll put it in the show notes.

? that is not Amazon it’s for independent bookstores and Will I start a reference this in the next 12 months? I was really excited about it at one time, but my interest changed or The topic changed whatever it is some of those not so much anymore ? and then number three does it lighten my soul or Does it sit there as a should? ? I’ve got a book

that I’m listening to or that I’m reading right now that is how to retire with enough money. And I don’t know that it lightens my soul, but I’m excited to read it because it’s something I’m planning for. ? It’s not a should, it is a I want to. ? Let’s talk, let’s also talk about this. ? I have bought books aspirationally. I’ve got some very smart friends. I’ve got some friends who are in doctoral programs.

and they are reading some really, really interesting and heavy books. But you know what? Here’s what I would rather have. I’d rather have a short summary from my friend than to buy the book and let it sit there and taunt me. Because I’m probably not going to read that book. But I can ask my friend, hey, what did you learn in that book that is really helping you right now? And they would be excited to share that, and that’s a way I can take that information in. So.

We’re not going to buy to become I am not going to become a doctoral student that is not on my bingo card But maybe there is something, you know, if you say hey, I want to investigate this hobby I love that you’re buying a book to explore it before maybe buying all the materials I think that that is okay. And if you’re like, ? after reading about this, maybe that’s not the hobby for me You can resell that book or give it away ? If a book represents who I wish I were

That is buying to become. So if I’m not going to put the action behind it, then it’s a wish, a costume on my shelf. Can you borrow it first? Or if you’ve already bought it, can you let it bless someone else? So let’s talk about some of these cues to let us know it’s time to get rid of it. ? so in the money category.

If you have duplicates, ? pricey sets, maybe you bought a box set, but you never opened them. Maybe you had encyclopedias at some time and you can now just check all that online. It’s time to get rid of that. You can sell books. There are great places to sell books. I will put some of those notes in. Well, I mean, guys, Amazon, they will often buy back your books.

There are probably, there’s probably a local used bookstore where they will buy your books. So I don’t need to put that in the show notes. You can do that yourself. Go onto Amazon or go to your local bookstore and see what they will give you for that. It’s not going to be what you paid for it. And that’s okay. Cause you’ve already gotten your value out of that book. Energy. ? Okay. So if you are moving coffee table books every week to dust, no, if

If you have ? books that are falling apart and you’re not willing to take the time to repair them, then that’s a book that you can get rid of. ? Also, okay, so we talk about MEET, money, energy, emotional bandwidth, and time. So emotional ties to books. Maybe you have some reads that somebody said, you should read this book.

or maybe you’ve inherited a set you don’t love, or an inscription. People tell me all the time, they won’t get rid of my books because I signed them. You guys, I have found plenty of my books in the dollar bin with my signature in them. It’s okay. I promise you, I promise you it’s okay. Now, I know the inscription is different when your Aunt Mabel gave you a book for graduation or something like that, but.

I don’t believe that holding on to something somebody gave me is proof of their love. So you can just ? exacto knife that inscription outside of it. You could put that into a photo album or a memory book or a journal or a junk journal. Those things are great. ? If you’re going through all of these different criteria and you’re like, I’m still not sure, put it in a box and hold onto that box for three months.

If you haven’t looked for any of those books, it’s okay now my my approach is radical Could I get rid of that whole box without even opening it? Yeah, I could or Maybe you need to go through it one time and you say okay. I’m gonna get rid of half of these books So put a date on that box put it on your calendar and then go back through it Okay, guys, we’re take a quick break and then when we come back, we’re gonna talk about how to organize it

to make it work and not just pretty. Friends, Clutterfree Academy is listener supported. If this podcast is a benefit to you, can I encourage you to check out our coffee campaign? That’s KO-FI campaign. We’ve got a link in the show notes, so you can just go there. And could I ask, would you be willing to be a monthly supporter? It’s $5 a month.

And so that’s $60 a year. And that helps us with the production of this podcast. And I like to think about it this way. Maybe right now you have the $5 to contribute and somebody else doesn’t. You are doing this for somebody else who needs this information and can’t afford to get it someplace else. It is an act of generosity. So your support keeps these practical episodes coming.

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That is our free group where you can join and get downloads and more information. We would love to have you over there. It is the kindest corner of the internet. And guys, we are so thrilled to have you. You’re there with 16,000 other people who are trying to get clutter free. There’s no better place to work on your clutter free journey. Okay, back to the program.

Okay, so you have decluttered, you’ve gotten rid of some of those books. let’s, I want you to think about your library in two zones. There’s your forever shelf. These are maybe some devotionals that you love, the cookbooks you actually use, professional go-to book. I like to have those in the easiest place to get to. So I’ve got a few books in my forever shelf.

One of my favorite books is called ? Animal Vegetable Miracle ? by Barbara King Solver. I read that about once a year. I have a book from Amy Decision called the Titewad Gazette. I have devotional books. I’ve got all sorts of books that I refer back to. I have reference books that I love. I have writing guides, those kind of things.

So that is my forever shelf. Those are the books I go back to over and over and over again. So you’ve got your forever shelf and then you’ve got your flow shelf. And let me tell you what your flow shelf is. That is your to be read pile. Or maybe you have a current project you’re working on. I’m working on writing a book right now and I’ve got a little library of books that I’m using specifically for this book topic. And then also books that…

This could be fiction books that you don’t plan on rereading again. And you say, okay, I’m going to read this and then I’m going to release. Read and release. ? And I also think that you should know what your capacity is. When I was younger and had lots of kids at home, we had a bookshelf in every room. And when I say every room, I mean every room, every bedroom, the bathroom.

I can’t believe this you guys. can’t believe that I had bookshelves in my bathroom, but here we are. Here’s my confession, okay? So ? I had to cull those. And so it was mostly magazines in the bathroom, but there was a shelf for them. So our libraries live on this number of shelves and we don’t buy more bookshelves unless you actually need more bookshelves.

But I want you to think about this as a capacity where you don’t buy more shelves to accommodate the books. You have a curated, useful library that you can refer back to again and again and again. That’s what I want for you friends. ? so ? you can also have zones in your shelves.

Maybe what I’ve done is I do have several different book shelving units. I’ve got one in our blue room. It’s a spare bit. And that’s all memoir and fiction. Then I’ve got one in our yellow room, which is ? children’s books. Then ? we have in Roger’s office, he’s got all of his scientific computer nerdy books.

And then in my office, I have ? my forever books and my business reference books. I’ve got those right behind me. In my kitchen, I have my cookbooks. Now, I keep more cookbooks probably than the average bear because not only do I love to cook, but I also have written cookbooks. So I keep a lot of reference books there. And then finally, we have one shelf in the living room.

that is it’s books that have been gifted to me devotionals those kind of thing, ? ones that if people want to borrow I let them borrow that works for me. I may have more books than the average person since i’m a writer but I don’t want to grow beyond that and that means because I get I get dozens and dozens of dozens of books every year because they’re sent to me or I buy them

? That means I have to cull all the time and that’s okay. So ? you may want to set some hard and fast rules for yourself. Cookbooks, ? if you have five in rotation ? or you can take pictures. If you own the cookbook, this was the advice I was given by my publisher. If you own the cookbook, you can take a picture of the recipe. So you don’t have to have that recipe book in rotation.

devotionals, maybe one current and one that you go back to over and over again. And then let the other ones go. Unless it’s one that you’ve come back to over and over again, it’s time to let it go. Okay, how do you sustain this whole library system? How do you make this? I used to do this when I lived in San Jose. It’s much harder for me now because the library for me is

at least an hour and a half round trip. But can you check out your library first? Can you do Kindle Unlimited? Can you listen ? on your library’s audio app? ? But if you’re buying a book, pick the book that you’re going to get rid of, okay? The one in, one out. A new book can’t enter without choosing one delete. So have a place, whether it’s a basket or a cardboard box.

where you’re going to put the books that you’re going to get rid of. A return station. If you are borrowing books from the library or maybe from a church library or for friends, ? make sure that that is a check mark on your errands each week and that you have a place where you can drop them off. I love the fact that libraries have a drive up book return. Can I just tell you that was not a thing in my childhood? What a gift.

? And then make sure you’re planning time for reading make sure that you’re not just collecting books friends raising my hands so guilty but I want you to also be able to make sure that you’re enjoying your books and think of books as Living items that you read and release You know, is this a forever book very few books should be forever books, but if there’s one can you put it in a little library?

? I’m going to be taking some books to a little library today as we go out of town. Could you, do you have a friend who you know is struggling financially and would be blessed by those books? About once a year what I do is I gather up a bunch of books and I send them to somebody who I know is struggling. I ask them of course first, would you like these? But these are readers. ? And so I want you to think about.

What is my exit strategy for the books that I have read and now need to release? Okay, friends, I hope that this episode has given you some ideas about how to have books in your life in a really healthy way that works for you and works for your home to keep that space open and alive.

Kathi Lipp (00:00)
Well, hey friends, welcome back. And this is my favorite part of the series, things that have earned a place in my clutter free home. And guys, I want to tell you about a book that I’ve not only read, but I actually got the chance to endorse. If you are a long time listener of the Clutter Free Academy podcast, you know my friend, Susy Flory. She’s the reason I moved to the mountains. So when I am stuck in the house without power for three weeks at a time,

and six feet of snow. blame Susy, but Susy, welcome back to the podcast. I’m so glad to have you here today.

Susy Flory (00:37)
I’m glad to be here, my neighbor.

Kathi Lipp (00:40)
And you know what right now I have I have chickens who are laying eggs I have ? Vegetables that are coming up. So right now I thank you. But you know when it’s January 12th, we’ll see how I feel Okay, so not only is Susy a neighbor Susy is my longest I’m gonna call you a collaborator on writing and You and I have never written a book together. I’ve

thought about writing a book with you, but maybe someday that’ll happen for us. Who knows? Who knows? ? You know, maybe someday you want to go slumming and we can talk about clutter or I can, I can, I can talk about Jesus. And that’s what you’ve done in your last book. It’s a book called Jesus was, and I, I just need, I want to tell you a little bit.

I want you to hear from Susy a little bit about this book and why it is in the world. I have been on the journey of this book since I think we figured out 2021 where you did a three word Facebook post. Can you tell us what that was and why you posted it?

Susy Flory (01:56)
It was a crazy time in the world. We’ve had a lot of those over the last few years. was just ? some craziness was happening. People were arguing, ranting. There was just a lot of ugliness online to the point where I was almost scared to look at what was going on on social media. But I wanted to be there because that’s where we talk and we hang out. We all want a good hang at times. And I created a three word

Kathi Lipp (02:14)
Yeah.

Susy Flory (02:24)
post a couple of days later, I just wanted to say something, but I made myself keep it as short as I possibly could. I challenged myself, like, how can I declutter my thoughts and get it down to three words? Because you can’t rant, you can’t preach, you can’t really, it’s hard to be mean in three words. And so that’s what I did. And it turned into an unexpected conversation that lasted an entire month.

Kathi Lipp (02:32)
You

Right. And so what were those three words?

Susy Flory (02:58)
The three words were Jesus was nonviolent. Jesus was nonviolent. And I was scared. Like I wanted to hide because I thought everyone was gonna argue and be mean in my comments. Cause that was just was the atmosphere at that time. And surprise, surprise people wanted to talk.

Kathi Lipp (03:14)
Yes, it’s.

Yeah. And I think a lot of us at that time and still are looking for conversations. You know, I learned so much just by reading God’s word. You know, that’s something I do every day and it impacts me and I get fresh perspective when I’m reading something that I’ve read a hundred times before. But also I learned so much by

listening and participating in the conversations of other thoughtful people who are not trying to win arguments, but who are trying to uncover truth. And I, that’s what I felt like that conversation was back, you know, so many years ago. And so you did not start off wanting to write this book about Jesus, but the, conversation was so rich and so interesting. And then

you got together with a pastor named Scott. Hey, my favorite pastor’s name is Scott. I love that we have Scott pastors around here. And all of this, by the way, was happening while Susy was getting her master’s and her doctor of ministry, which she’ll be getting here in a few months. So what a rich time to be having these kinds of conversations as you’re deep diving academically, but you’re also

Susy Flory (04:25)
Ha

Kathi Lipp (04:46)
doing research on Facebook. I just love how all this kind of came together. So how did this book come about?

Susy Flory (04:54)
So ? Scott, Pastor Scott, who is a friend of mine and we have gone to school together, the first part of my ? schooling, just started talking and he decided to preach through Jesus Was. So he preached a whole sermon on Jesus Was Nonviolent to his church and then, right, exactly. He preached my Facebook post and I had 30.

Kathi Lipp (05:14)
based off of your Facebook posts.

Yeah.

Susy Flory (05:22)
30 of them, you know, when I was done. And he preached on, think, 15 of them, preached a whole sermon. it was so surreal, Kathi, to watch a pastor online, because he’s in Indiana, he doesn’t live nearby. And he’s preaching through a Facebook post that I wrote. It was weird. It was weird stuff.

Kathi Lipp (05:33)
Yeah.

Yeah,

but weird in a good way. I have to imagine I have to imagine so tell us a little bit about this book because I just felt so compelled Here’s the thing. Yes. There are so much back and forth and mudslinging and grenade throwing online It it felt so good to be in a book. Yeah, and that’s how I felt I was inside this book listening to the thoughts of very thoughtful people

Who love Jesus and what who he was to be represented in the world. So Yeah, just tell me more about it

Susy Flory (06:23)
Yeah, we’re in an era of people feeling comfortable about talking about church hurt. know, most of us who’ve gone to church for any length of time, you have something that happens that hurts your feelings or ? makes you feel bad. And it’s just the result of going to church with people. I mean, that’s part of it. There’s also abuse of power and all kinds of things we’re talking about. And so, ?

Kathi Lipp (06:31)
Yes. ?

Mm-hmm.

Great.

Susy Flory (06:53)
In my seminary, I was so blessed, Kathi, to be with people who are in ministry, who are pastors, who are doing all kinds of things, teachers, ? non-profit people, advocates who love Jesus. And they’ve probably all been hurt by the church at one time or another, but somehow they love Jesus. And I think it’s because of what we’re talking about in this book. Jesus is bigger.

Kathi Lipp (07:05)
Yeah.

Mm.

Susy Flory (07:22)
than my little local church where I got in a fight with someone there, you know, a disagreement. And so it’s a bigger picture and it’s a safe place to learn about that Jesus. Maybe not your church’s picture of Jesus might be a little different. And so it’s just a safe place to learn more about him and to ask questions. Not every church, not every place is a safe place to ask questions.

Kathi Lipp (07:28)
? amen.

It’s so true. so to get a different perspective, because it’s like you said, it’s so easy to lose, you know, as a child, it was so easy for me to know who Jesus was and know his heart. And man, you can be involved in a church, in a conversation, a group of friends, and sometimes that can get twisted up. And we need to go back to

who Jesus actually was. Guys, if you’re feeling like you need that reconnection, you need to, I don’t know, just hold off some of the noise of the world. This book was a retreat for me. And Susy, I’m just gonna ask you, who was Jesus? Tell me one of the things that you’ve taken away from this process where you can say, that’s who Jesus was.

Susy Flory (08:47)
One of the things that really struck me after reading, you know, other people’s writing, because we’re a collection of 19 people who are writing these different Jesus was statements, kind of the simplest one was Jesus was kind. And I thought, how are you gonna write about that? You know, that feels like such a basic, simple, almost like a kindergarten statement. Be kind, children, you know?

Kathi Lipp (09:02)
Yes.

Mmm.

Right.

Yes.

Susy Flory (09:16)
And to think that a man who was a leader, know, people followed him. They wanted to kill him because he broke rules and hung out with sinners. You know, talk about a good hang. A good hang for Jesus was hanging out with sinners. And then to read, to read, I mean, he sounds like, you know, like a gangster, like he’s just going against a lot of the things that were taught and expected.

Kathi Lipp (09:16)
Right.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Susy Flory (09:44)
And he wasn’t, he was kind. He was fed people, he cared for people, he saw people, he listened to people. So Jesus was kind, Jesus was a listener. Those are just the core of who Jesus was. And I think if more people could meet that Jesus, they would want to know a little more about him. They’d wanna ask those questions and sort of drink that in, I think.

Kathi Lipp (09:48)
Mm.

Right, because the world has been presented a picture of Jesus and his followers that isn’t always kind. And to be able to say, no, this is who Jesus is. Guys, I am going to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. ? It will have a permanent place on my shelf. Jesus was, and I will have a link.

In the show notes so you can go purchase it but guys you’re going to be able to get this wherever you buy books that you love so amazon ? barnes and noble wherever you love books You will be able to get this Susy Thanks for being on clutter free academy

Susy Flory (10:53)
Thanks for having me, Kathi.

Kathi Lipp (10:56)
And friends, thank you for being here. You’ve been listening to Clutter-Free Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp Now, go create the clutter-free life you’ve always wanted to live.