Adam Blatner

I”m getting older and beginning to divest myself of tons of accumulated treasures. Crap. I don’t know: One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. Actually, this stuff is just a bit more treasure than crap but it’s a process. I hear an inner voice: “Because I want it, I want to have it! It’s mine, all mine, hahahahah!” says a little Gollum within me. (The Gollum complex is analogous to the Oedipal complex only in that it alludes to a literary figure. In Freud’s case, the story of Oedipus—which, I must say, really hardly matched, and also I disagree with the fundamental analysis, but that’s beside the point; and as for Gollum, a slimy cave-dweller weirdo in Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think this complex better named. Poor ol’ Gollum was addicted to his “precious” Ring of Power that made him invisible and made him feel invincible the way I’m trying to get free of my addiction to books.)

So I’m beginning to strive against my inner Gollum and give away tons (literally) of books and papers. I’m gonna die some time in the future—I can see it. So the game is prioritizing what’s important and de-prioritizing what’s not important.