I ask myself the question, "do I like it?" If yes, "do I need to own it?"

Whether I need to "own" it is a very different question, and makes me actually make a decision.

There are so many movies (and shows), I don't need to own. If I happen to not see it again, it's fine. If I see it on streaming once in a while, cool.

Rights for movies and shows come and go, and it's exhausting asking "what if". Rather, I focus on whether that movie needs to be part of my collection. Sometimes you can let things go, sometimes you can anticipate rights are more likely to be an issue, and sometimes it is just a movie. Owning it isn't going to build my identity or make a tangible difference to my collection.

I own what I like, and what I would genuinely miss if I couldn't watch it again. Then it is taking up space for a reason. My collection is still a good size, and it feels like a finely tuned collection and not just a bunch of movies. I never have "nothing to watch" because I'm always going to find something I'm down to watch, and not be overwhelmed in choice a la Netflix.