The problem with magazines is that they take up space in one’s dwelling and life (time-wise). It’s a love-hate kind of thing, really.
Yesterday I somehow got into a feverish mode to clean out whatever I could recycle or trash. After looking at my black leaning bookshelf for a moment longer than usual, I realized I still had the 2005 collection of Real Simple. Not only 2005, but 2006, too. And 2007 from this year, of course. The neat, chronologically ordered magazines looked great on my shelf, which was probably a reason for for them to remain there, but their time was approaching an end.
I had a hard time parting with these issues, which explains me delaying the entire process. As a pack-ratter, I tend to hoard things that I feel would be useful later. When, though, one may ask? Who knows, but better safe than sorry. While flipping through them, article titles such as “50 gifts under $50,” “How to avoid hidden fees,” “The best summer vegetables, travel bags, ice cream scoops,” “How to talk to your family about money,” “Low-maintenance, foolproof dinners” — all of them seemed worthy of keeping. After all, I want to avoid hidden fees! I want to know the best summer vegetables! The possible everyday solutions were endless, and I wanted to keep them all, as if my quality of life would totally transform once I had these under my belt. In reality, it truly is difficult to retain so many facts and solutions, especially when there is so much available to us in many different forms (e.g., magazines, books, newspapers, TV, podcasts, etc.).
One thing that eased my decision to recycle my magazines was the fact that each issue across multiple years had virtually the same topics, but with slightly different cover photography or items being researched. For example, the December issues in 2005, 2006, and 2007 all had “50 gifts under $50.” Obviously with each subsequent year, there would be different gift ideas but all with similar concepts and layouts. I think all magazines tend to do that. There are only so many topics to write about in a given magazine genre, right?
I sighed and let them go. Into the recycle bin they went.