The problems of being a bookaholic

We are once again coming to the end of our time in Tucson. It's never long enough but the farm needs us to return and Christmas is just ahead. The big changes and repairs have been made and now it's tweaking time. Because I am a bit of a bookaholic, I have books everywhere I go. On the drive down I took probably 10 or 12 to read even though I knew I would have many here, not to mention a wonderful used bookstore, Bookmans, nearby.

The problem now is which books stay and which should go back to Oregon. Would some of my beloved books about the Southwest disappear if I left them here for renters to read? (I hope all the future renters for this house will be the kind of people who read my blog.) If someone took one, might they need it more than I did? Or might some of those, which are irreplaceable, be damaged? Which books might touch someone else's life? Which will just be distractions?

Five days ago I lit a candle, which I had bought at a Walmart some years back but had never lit. It is supposed to draw the Holy Spirit, to help bring understanding of the mysteries of the universe. I have had hopes it will also help with the choices that have had to be made getting this house ready for others. I will say I have had having interesting dreams, revealing dreams, while it was burning (about five days). Is it the candle? Having been a Catholic for many years, the habit of lighting candles as prayer/meditation tools (as long as it burns, its intentions go upward to wherever upward is) has been long with me, and one thing I didn't quit when I stopped going to the Church.

Since my hope for this house is that it will be an emotional and spiritual retreat for other people, for me, books are among the tools useful for that experience. I decided the main books here should be guides to the area, nature books, those with different kinds of spiritual insights, some lightweight fiction, and art books. I have been also considering which I should take back with me to be sure I read again (most Frank Waters). Probably some should go to Bookmans, but they won't. These books were chosen carefully for being here in the first place.

My reluctance to take many of them back to Oregon, even if I might like to do so, comes from the overflowing bookshelves up there (five nearly floor to ceiling bookcases). Where would these go? What piece of furniture would have to be removed to fit in another bookcase? The sofa?

The problem with being a bookaholic is you never know what you will need in the future. Special books might go out of print. Perhaps the time will come when I cannot afford books (that's my justification). Coming in and out of here and living as far as I do from libraries, they are not workable for me at this time although I made the most of them during the years when they were.

The book I am reading, that I am currently unsure whether to leave, store or take to Oregon is Healing Ceremonies by Carl A. Hammerschlag and Howard D. Silverman on rituals for spiritual, physical and mental health. Hammerschlag had written another book I very much like, The Dancing Healers, (reluctantly it will stay) about his experiences with healing as a doctor on an Arizona reservation. Healing Ceremonies relates to my life today with its suggestions for rituals and ceremonies to mark the passing of one time into another.

The following is one special quote by Carl Jung in a section aimed at the autumn of one's life, defined as the years 56 to 70:

"Aging people should know that their lives are not mounting and unfolding but that an inexorable inner process forces the contraction of life. For a young person it is almost a sin-- and certainly a danger-- to be too much occupied with himself, but for the aging person it is a duty and a necessity to give serious attention to himself."