Having realized the impact books we physically face on a daily basis on our psyche, I recently rearranged my personal library. This must be the most drastic rearrangement, reflecting the most drastic (positive) transformation I have undergone in the past three years.
Since I was introduced one book by one of the most important Chabad rabbis three years ago as part of Jewish life coaching I received in a group of about ten frum Jewish men here in Jerusalem, I've become more and more fascinated by the teachings of Chabad Hasidism and the positivity of their followers and more and more engaged with the study of Chabad Hasidism, both formally and privately.
In parallel I've gradually started losing my interest in academic Jewish studies and linguistics though I'm still deeply connected to (Ashkenazic) Hebrew and Yiddish and continue improving my Russian, now by studying Hasidism in it.
The most conspicuous externally visible impact of this change is significant growth - actually from almost none - of the Chabad Hasidic section of my private library. In order to make room for this growing section I discarded many books that not only stopped interesting me but even drain my energy.
In my previous apartment here in Jerusalem my living room, where I also worked, was big enough to hold the whole library (about 1,300 books). But since I moved into a smaller apartment with a much smaller living room, I had to divide my private library into two - the active part in the living room (about 600 books) and the passive part in the bed room (about 700 books).
When I still worked as a linguist in academia, the majority of the books in the active part were on languages and linguistics. After this major rearrangement the majority of the books there are on Judaism, especially Chabad Hasidism. I have only one shelf for Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian respectively there; all the other books on languages and linguistics are now in the passive part of the library in the bed room. There remain few academic Jewish books even in the passive part.
The impact of this rearrangement, not only intellectually but also spiritually, has been enormous. I feel as if my living room became a sacred space. I'm constantly inspired even by the mere presence of all these Hasidic books just by sharing the same space. Of course, I also study them, though little by little to incorporate their profound contents.
If you happen to have seen my private library when it was still dominated by academic books on languages and linguistics, you should visit my apartment so that you, too, may not only see and but also feel the difference.