Oh wow it’s been a hot minute. So we are nearing the end of Q2 and I have not followed any of my carefully laid out plans. Surprise, surprise… not. I have of course been shopping. Not to the extent of last year’s episode where I lost track of how much money I was spending and had to sheepishly crawl to my husband and apologize, but still nowhere near my no buying plan of 2021. There are a couple of life events that have led me to abandon my perfect closet quest for Q2. The first being the continuation of lockdown in Ontario thanks to an incompetent government that twiddled their thumbs during the second wave as healthcare workers burned in pits of fire only to come to this point with raised arms and arched eyebrows asking “how could we have known it would get this bad?”. Why yes, I’ve been stress shopping. But honestly I’m Ok with that given the circumstances. The second being our move to a bigger home that has relegated the vast majority of my 600ish closet from the storage unit into my new home office without hangers to house them.
So what are my plans for Q3, nobody asked again? Well I have since decluttered another tiny chunk of my closet before the move in an attempt to free up hangers to use on less worthy clothing. Once my office is set up I plan on establishing a sort of mini capsule project for my lesser worn items to see if they are pieces that have purpose and lasting power or if I need to demand rent from them on threat of eviction. I plan on doing a big recount of all of my clothing now that about 95% of it is no longer in storage so I can get a better idea of my closet stats not including things like underwear, socks and workwear (scrubs mainly). The goal for 2021 is to end it with a much smaller closet that I absolutely love where at max I rotate in 10 new/secondhand pieces each year.
And I want to again emphasize the fact that I realize how privileged these so-called “lofty” closet goals are. I know I am at a very blessed point in my life where I can financially explore and figure out my personal style while dealing with an overflowing closet issue. I am at great privilege where having too much has become a problem rather than having too little. I think part of documenting this project of mine was to paint a more honest picture – of what my journey to decluttering my closet and trying to shift my mindset to being satisfied with less – looks like. I have often watched and grimaced at YoutubeTM influencers documenting their closet declutters quoting things like “guys, I got rid of like half my closet!” knowing full well that the giant to sell and donate pile of clothes on their floor is a mere fraction compared to what they still own.
Being more intentional with this declutter has taught me how truly attached I am to inanimate objects. There’s a verse in the Bible that says “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” My heart has and continues to be to set on the joy I get from what can be destroyed by moth. The intent behind this closet journey is to find a place of contentment where my life isn’t so engulfed in shopping and what other people are wearing and in expending my energy on greater more purposeful things. Life is more than clothes.
Until we meet again.
softshells. 