Conquering the closet
Sooner or later, we've all got to face our fears. We've got to muster up some courage and determination and wipe away the cobwebs from our eyes. We've got to purge things that just don't serve our lives any more. Boy, this sounds pretty intense for a visit into our closets! Yes, I was talking about cleaning out our closets and drawers, what were you thinking?
Long black trench coat that I haven't worn since I was 20 - check! Pictures that I bought that I thought I'd hang up, but haven't - check. Shirts that I keep looking at in my drawer and saying, "I might wear that, I guess - check! You get the idea. As much as I dread cleaning out my closets and drawers, today was the day that I was going to have some triumph. Normally, I intend to have a great clean out day. I move toward the closet or chest of drawers, open it, take a deep sigh and then quickly shut it and run out of my room! It takes alot of energy sometimes to tackle your stuff, especially if it is tied to memories. Such is the case with my bedroom closet. It's taken me 6 years to go through my mom's stuff since she died. It was difficult to go through my things, especially since they were mixed in with all of hers. Then, over the years, I just opened my heart to the possibility that these things were not really "her" but reminded me of her. By giving away this "stuff", I wasn't giving any part of her memory away. But, that took years. Grief is a journey and we will weave in and out of it over time. I think that I have a few more things in my closet of hers that might need to move on, but I'll wait until my heart says, "I'm ready".
Ok, so what about all the other stuff? No attachments there. I really don't have any excuses for hanging on to it. Well, I usually use a few tactics to avoid the whole experience. Sometimes, I put my frugal lenses on and say," But, I shouldn't give this away. It's perfectly fine." Or I anticipate that I will probably use it some time down the road. Probably is the key word. As you may have guessed, probably doesn't happen. This year I decided to tackle things very differently. I've heard the tips, "If you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it." Boy, was that hard. But, with added determination, I took a stack of my shirts and tried each one on in front of the mirror. It I said the words, "It's ok", I put it in the give away pile. If I put a shirt on and immediately loved it - the color, the way it felt, looked, etc, then I kept it. It was actually quite easy. I had just been lazy the other years and not tried things on.
Books are the hardest thing for me to give away. I simply love books. I always want to keep the good ones and to be honest, I think they're all good. That would be problem #1. Problem #2 is that I have ample bookshelf storage for all my books, so what's the big deal?
It hit me one day when my youngest son said, "Mom, you're bookshelf is in my room. Can I have my room back?" Poor guy, he was right. My bookshelf was in his room and he had grand designs for the extra space. After all, Lego building is MUCH more important than me storing my hundreds of books. I was then faced with the dilemma. To re-locate the shelf or not. After pacing in and out of the room, I made the quick decision to grab some boxes and fill them with all the books. There were maybe 20 that I could not part with, but the rest made it into the boxes. Problem#3 - getting the boxes out of the house without looking at what's inside. Ever done that? You re-visit your giveaway decision and then begin to unpack the box? Well, I'm happy to say that my boxes made it to the van... over a month ago. You thought I was doing pretty good, right? That's why today was the day to conquer the van trunk full of books. I kind of had to think about dealing with it after my husband said a week ago, "Honey, I've got nowhere to put the groceries cause the trunk if full of those books. Were you giving them away any time soon?" So, this morning, with great resolve, I got my keys, my trench coat, frames, shirts and books and got in the van. (Yes, I did turn the van on, have a little faith!) This is where problem #4 could have come in to the picture, but didn't. I drove straight to the thrift shop and dropped everything off. No detours (that's problem #4)
You know what? It felt great to overcome my fear of the closet! I came home feeling great! I had cleared my closets and I think that I had accomplished clearing my mind as well. We need to have more "clear spaces" in our homes, our minds and in our calendars. So, what are you waiting for? Pick a day (no, sometime next year won't work), grab some bags and get busy making some space in your home and in your mind. The great thing is that the effort will be so worth it. Your no longer needed things will make someone else's day. Hopefully, they'll know when it's time to clean out their closets and share the joy of letting things go.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Conquering the closet
Sooner or later, we've all got to face our fears. We've got to muster up some courage and determination and wipe away the cobwebs from our eyes. We've got to purge things that just don't serve our lives any more. Boy, this sounds pretty intense for a visit into our closets! Yes, I was talking about cleaning out our closets and drawers, what were you thinking?
Long black trench coat that I haven't worn since I was 20 - check! Pictures that I bought that I thought I'd hang up, but haven't - check. Shirts that I keep looking at in my drawer and saying, "I might wear that, I guess - check! You get the idea. As much as I dread cleaning out my closets and drawers, today was the day that I was going to have some triumph. Normally, I intend to have a great clean out day. I move toward the closet or chest of drawers, open it, take a deep sigh and then quickly shut it and run out of my room! It takes alot of energy sometimes to tackle your stuff, especially if it is tied to memories. Such is the case with my bedroom closet. It's taken me 6 years to go through my mom's stuff since she died. It was difficult to go through my things, especially since they were mixed in with all of hers. Then, over the years, I just opened my heart to the possibility that these things were not really "her" but reminded me of her. By giving away this "stuff", I wasn't giving any part of her memory away. But, that took years. Grief is a journey and we will weave in and out of it over time. I think that I have a few more things in my closet of hers that might need to move on, but I'll wait until my heart says, "I'm ready".
Ok, so what about all the other stuff? No attachments there. I really don't have any excuses for hanging on to it. Well, I usually use a few tactics to avoid the whole experience. Sometimes, I put my frugal lenses on and say," But, I shouldn't give this away. It's perfectly fine." Or I anticipate that I will probably use it some time down the road. Probably is the key word. As you may have guessed, probably doesn't happen. This year I decided to tackle things very differently. I've heard the tips, "If you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it." Boy, was that hard. But, with added determination, I took a stack of my shirts and tried each one on in front of the mirror. It I said the words, "It's ok", I put it in the give away pile. If I put a shirt on and immediately loved it - the color, the way it felt, looked, etc, then I kept it. It was actually quite easy. I had just been lazy the other years and not tried things on.
Books are the hardest thing for me to give away. I simply love books. I always want to keep the good ones and to be honest, I think they're all good. That would be problem #1. Problem #2 is that I have ample bookshelf storage for all my books, so what's the big deal?
It hit me one day when my youngest son said, "Mom, you're bookshelf is in my room. Can I have my room back?" Poor guy, he was right. My bookshelf was in his room and he had grand designs for the extra space. After all, Lego building is MUCH more important than me storing my hundreds of books. I was then faced with the dilemma. To re-locate the shelf or not. After pacing in and out of the room, I made the quick decision to grab some boxes and fill them with all the books. There were maybe 20 that I could not part with, but the rest made it into the boxes. Problem#3 - getting the boxes out of the house without looking at what's inside. Ever done that? You re-visit your giveaway decision and then begin to unpack the box? Well, I'm happy to say that my boxes made it to the van... over a month ago. You thought I was doing pretty good, right? That's why today was the day to conquer the van trunk full of books. I kind of had to think about dealing with it after my husband said a week ago, "Honey, I've got nowhere to put the groceries cause the trunk if full of those books. Were you giving them away any time soon?" So, this morning, with great resolve, I got my keys, my trench coat, frames, shirts and books and got in the van. (Yes, I did turn the van on, have a little faith!) This is where problem #4 could have come in to the picture, but didn't. I drove straight to the thrift shop and dropped everything off. No detours (that's problem #4)
You know what? It felt great to overcome my fear of the closet! I came home feeling great! I had cleared my closets and I think that I had accomplished clearing my mind as well. We need to have more "clear spaces" in our homes, our minds and in our calendars. So, what are you waiting for? Pick a day (no, sometime next year won't work), grab some bags and get busy making some space in your home and in your mind. The great thing is that the effort will be so worth it. Your no longer needed things will make someone else's day. Hopefully, they'll know when it's time to clean out their closets and share the joy of letting things go.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)