Thoughts about…

Letting Go of Stuff

Please note that I was performing website maintenance in November, so although I wrote this newsletter I wasn’t able to upload it until today (12/4/23). In the meantime, I had published the video version of it on YouTube.

I’ve never considered myself much of a reader, at least not in the traditional sense. That’s because I’ve always equated prolific readers with novels and, well, I haven’t actually read that many novels during my lifetime. When I do, it’s often a painstakingly slow process. I always feel compelled to read every single word on every single page. No skimming. No speed reading. No jumping ahead. On top of that, I like to read passages out loud when the prose is good.

When it comes down to it, I’m a slow reader and full-length novels are my kryptonite.

So it’s not that I don’t love to read. I absolutely do. In fact, one of the first things you’d notice if you saw my bedroom is that it’s filled with books. Whether they’re stacked on shelves or packed in boxes stored in my closet, I have a lot of books.

Angora Creek on October 2, 2023. © Jared Manninen

As I’ve mentioned before, I have various collections of stuff. And these collections include books about Sierra Nevada plants and wildlife, as well as the history of Lake Tahoe and western emigration. I have a selection of cross-country ski and other outdoor-related magazines and books. I also own a small library of comics and graphic novels, art instruction books, and source and reference guides for role playing games such as D&D, if you can believe that. Lastly, and even though I read most of it online, I do keep up with the news and current events.

Realistically, I’m constantly reading. I just tend to avoid novels because of the commitment and time that it takes me to complete them. Admittedly, my compulsion to see commitments through to the end has probably been the most frustrating aspect about my novel reading experience. That’s because for many years I’d slog through books no matter how much I disliked them.

Being stuck watching a bad movie for two or three hours is one thing. But when you’re a slow reader like myself and trapped in an uninspiring book, well, that’s just the worst.

Lake Tahoe on October 3, 2023. © Jared Manninen

Honestly, though, and I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but for many years it never even occurred to me that I could just stop reading the book if I didn’t like it. Again, that’s because I made this commitment and anything less than finishing the entire book would’ve felt like failure.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but this is how I’ve lived most of my life for better and worse. That is, once I agree to a thing, whether it be with another person or just myself, there’s usually no turning back.

Being able to keep a commitment is obviously a good quality to possess. But knowing when to cut your losses is just as valuable a lesson to learn, if not more so, in certain situations. Like The Gambler said, “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.”

Burnside Lake on October 6, 2023. © Jared Manninen

Needless to say, it was a huge relief to finally acknowledge that I could let go of certain books. Nowadays, I give a book five, maybe ten pages, to capture my interest before tossing it on the donation pile. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all, and regardless of whether or not that book has been on the New York Times best seller list for the past five years, I’m not going to waste my time reading it if it doesn’t resonate with me.

This practice of letting go also manifests elsewhere in my life. Although, it’s probably a chicken-and-egg thing because I don’t necessarily believe that books specifically taught me this lesson. That said, I have been reading and purging a lot of books from my collections during the past few weeks while I complete my winter preparations. Just as important is that I’ve also been ridding myself of other unwanted stuff that’s been laying around the house, some of which I’ve had for years.

Essentially I’m trying to create space around me now so that when the snow does actually start to accumulate, every aspect of my life won’t feel so claustrophobic.

Donner Camp Trail at Alder Creek on October 10, 2023. © Jared Manninen

Whenever I’m looking to make a change or to prepare for what’s to come (like I’m doing right now), I always find it beneficial to go through this sorting, organizing, and purging process. Stuff just has so much other stuff attached to it that many physical objects tend to become liabilities because of all the old business (ideas and emotions) with which they’re still associated.

For example, I just threw away multiple bags filled with wine corks, of all things, that I’ve been collecting for years. My intention was to use them in an art project at some point like a type of collage painting, or whatever. But after trying them out once, I realized that I didn’t actually like the result so I gave up on the idea. Yet I kept collecting wine corks. Why? I guess out of habit or simply because I had made the commitment to collect them!

Again, sometimes it can take me a long time to let go of an idea.

Aspen Trees on October 16, 2023. © Jared Manninen

In the meantime, those bags of wine corks occupied space not only in the garage but also in my mind. This is because every time I saw them or added another cork to the collection or had to move one of the bags out of the way so that I could get to something else, I was reminded of that past experience. And, in this case, that memory was associated with failure. It obviously wasn’t a big failure because I didn’t actually invest much effort into it nor did I care that much about the project. However, it was still something that I attempted without much success.

Personally, I don’t need too many of those reminders in my life. None of us really do. But the more stuff we have, the more potential we have to be surrounded by those types of memories. And if I’m being completely honest, I believe that even the stuff with good memories affixed to it can still hold us back. Instead of being hung up on past mistakes or regrets, for example, those good old memories can easily discourage us from making new good memories. You know, if things are fine the way they are why risk doing anything that might disrupt our cozy little system?

View of Meiss Meadow on October 17, 2023. © Jared Manninen

All of that said, I admit that holding on to certain things for myself is often, more than anything else, about holding on to their potential. For example, the real reason I probably kept those wine corks for so long was because they represented the potential to create. And I probably told myself after that first attempt of using them that I just needed some streak of inspiration to hit me in order to make some type of engaging artwork out of them.

The problem with humoring all of these “what if,” “if only,” and “maybe one day…” scenarios for too long is that they can paralyze us from moving forward and actually getting something done for real.

Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge on October 20, 2023. © Jared Manninen

Again, I’m not trying to put too much blame on the wine corks or all of my books. They’re just small examples of what I’m talking about, right? Of things that can both occupy space physically and mentally in our lives. And when you get down to it, our time on earth is finite so how long should we wait for that inspiration or mystical sign or answer to our question before those objects or ideas or memories just become liabilities?

I know we all have similar stories about holding on to things for far too long. And, probably most of them revolve around the less physical aspects of our lives. But everything is connected so by addressing one element we may be able to resolve another.

So while I’m waiting for the snow to fall and my winter work to begin, I’m going to keep reading my comics, among other things, while ridding myself of stuff that’s no longer relevant to my life and goals. That, and maybe I’ll do a snow dance or two.

Washoe Meadows State Park on October 25, 2023. © Jared Manninen

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Thanks for being a part of my life. Until next time…

-Jared Manninen

Tahoe Trail Guide is an online resource for hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing in the Lake Tahoe region. In addition to trail data, I offer backcountry “how-to” articles and information about the local and natural history of Tahoe. Tahoe Swag is a collection of art and design products I create based on my love of the outdoors and appreciation for Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains.

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Last Month’s Newsletter (aka Recap in Video Format!)

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