Should It Stay or Should It Go

     There's a thin line between collecting and hoarding. I relate to the internet meme that says, "It's not hoarding if it's records". My collection is mostly curated, other than albums I've inherited that are still in my possession. Many of those are great records that I intend to keep. However, we are likely to be moving in the next few months and my music collection is currently over 2200 items. We plan on downsizing, so the reality is some of it has to go.

     I'm painfully aware that many people have larger collections and never do a purge. At heart, I'm a record buyer, not a seller. I have a weird dream of starting a foundation whose purpose is to collect a copy of every album ever recorded. I take pride in the size and value of my collection. It's all cataloged on Discogs, right down to the exact pressing. The original concept of Sound Mind was to be a living will for my collection, because I had no intention of stopping or selling and I'm going to die some day. 

     If I'm being honest with myself, I don't need much of my collection anymore. Records are the only physical media I listen to. I don't own a CD player and none of our cars have one either. The only device I have for playing CDs is my Blu Ray player, and I never do. I can't even remember the last time I played anything on the Blu Ray player. Therefore, all my music videos are unnecessary as well. As long as there's an internet, You Tube, and I have a laptop I don't really "need" those formats. Having said that, I'm still going to keep most of them, but there are some that I will never listen to again that could go. 

     My records are another story, even though they are the hardest and heaviest to move. I've had a love affair with this format for fifty years. Sure, I still have some duplicates, but they are mostly different pressings, so not actually duplicates. I could purge some more of the inherited albums. I could purge some records that realistically I will never listen to again. But maybe my kids will after I'm gone. 

     I've spent countless hours cataloging my collection and if I get rid of a bunch of it, I will have to go through Discogs again and delete them. That's a depressing thought. Depressing because it's a lot of work, and depressing because I will have to watch my collection shrink one piece at a time. If I take them to the record store, I will probably exchange them for credit and buy more records...but not as many. 

     Unfortunately for my wife, the vast majority of my records are coming with us if we have to move. I could never get rid of them. Maybe, I will write some posts about the fate of specific records in my collection as I go through this process. I'm currently going through my list of 1995 albums for that deep dive. I'm about twenty in, so it will be a few weeks away, depending on life events. If we move, it will probably put a kink in my posting. Wish me luck. Peace.