Soon it will be Spring. And if there was ever a good time to organize your closets it’s the moment right when Winter turns to Spring!
The very thought of carving out a precious day off to edit your wardrobe can make some of us break out in hives. After all where do you even begin to organize your closets when you have been collecting lots of memorabilia and clothing from college to new careers, to change of location, to new lifestyles?
After years of collecting stuff without periodically editing what we are left with is a closet full of miscellaneous things. We pile these things onto all the other stuff thus leaving us with a pile of possessions which may or may not have relevance.
There are a plethora of self-proclaimed organizing gurus that you can turn to for advice on how to get the job done. But it’s not so much that we need advice on how to get rid of all of that stuff we no longer use. The real problem is that the task just seems too daunting and it’s simply easier to close the closet door.
Decluttering brings up so much emotion—the jubilation you felt when you first bought them, the overwhelming sadness that you never wore them (or you no longer fit into them) and finally the closure you must experience to say goodbye. We definitely get far too attached to our things which is the main obstacle at its core.
The infamous decluttering expert Marie Kondo suggest that we should take the time to thank everything we give (or throw) away for their service. But to engage in a going-away party for every single item we finally have the strength to part with is a bit much.
If you are ready to take the plunge to purge and feel that the KonMari method is the way to go by all means pick up a copy of Marie’s book since she does have some wonderful suggestions regarding organizing. After you’ve read it please pass it onto a friend as years down the road when you rediscover it covered in dust next to your Paleo Diet book with the jam stains, you will have lost your original excitement and will forgo giving it away and just toss it where it will only end up in landfill.
A general rule for letting go of your clothing is if they don’t fit, are worn out or are reminiscent of a time when disco was king get rid of them!
A good decluttering will definitely bring you peace once you’ve done it. However, the process could bring you anxiety. So in an effort to get the job done with the least bit of drama here are my suggestions for getting through the process of bringing order to chaos.
~Drink; Drinking can give you the strength you need in order to complete the task at hand. If you don’t drink then eat ice cream—it has the same effect on your pleasure receptors.
~Turn Up the Music; If you approach this project the same way as you would throwing a party you will certainly have more fun. Loud music also has the benefit of drowning out the voices in your head that might say, “keep me!”
~Take a Picture; If after a few glasses of wine you still can’t bring yourself to part with the pullover you bought in college with the face of a Yak woven into the front then put it on and take a selfie. Now take a look at your selfie. Still want to keep it? I thought not!
~Take Another Picture; You may find yourself with a pile of stuff that you have no intention of ever wearing again. However, you can’t bring yourself to give any of it away because of the emotional attachment. Pull out your camera again and start snapping away. Place the photos in a separate folder and title it, “My Life in Clothes.” You can gaze upon them whenever you wish in the space it would take to store a fleck of sand.
