I've been cleaning off a bookshelf that holds old annuals, phone books that nobody uses anymore, math textbooks that are out of date and useless.  What would I use them for anyway??  But I was the editor for some of the math books, and seeing my name in print is kinda fun--to me, if to nobody else.  They all need to go in the trash.  Little by little I am cleaning it all out.  I'm never going to teach math again unless it's one on one.

We used to "remember" stuff on paper.  Now, we use our phone.  It's hard to let go of something that was such a big part of our lives.  What do I do with all of those black stand up file folders?  There are a dozen things like that.  Obsolete. 

I have two tall thin antique book shelves that I brought in from storage and put on either side of my bed.  So if I find something I want to keep, that's where I'm putting it.  It would be easier to just leave it all where it is, but I'm trying to downsize.  I just do a little bit every day. At least, I know where stuff is.  That's an improvement.