Emotional Cleaning

The more I read these blogs, the more I find myself motivated to get things done! My first inspiration was when Sherry blogged about the ten minutes a day cleaning plan. I put my mind to it and here it is spring and I have made great strides in getting organized. I must confess, there were times when I was so inspired that I didn't stop at ten minutes, but that was for more involved cleaning, what I like to call emotional cleaning. Case in point, my closet with my small, medium and large wardrobes. My first sojourn into the dark recesses of my clothes world was indeed ten minutes. That's all the time it took to remove the small wardrobe.

The next time I stood in front of the closet was a much longer proposition. Not that I have so many clothes, I don't, but I do have many that are outdated and don't, nor did they ever, fit properly. But they were purchased with high hopes. I once truly loved them. For some reason they spoke to me from the showroom floor. They said persuasive things like "you would look great in this" or "this would be perfect for the Parrotheads meetings" or the very worst, "you would look slimmer and taller in this". And the saleslady would simply back them up.

Of course they lied. Every time I thought I might wear one of them, something wasn't right. I have learned through trial and error, that if it doesn't fit and make you feel wonderful when you try it on, it isn't going to get better. Even if you lose ten lbs. Even if you grow two inches taller.

My next visit was very lengthy. It involved trying on each and every piece of clothing I own. I started with the dresses in the back, the ones I haven't worn in years. But I keep telling myself that circumstances may change at any time and I may be forced to drag them out and wear them to a new job, or find myself invited to some nice affair that requires a dress. Never mind that I would be a laughing stock in my ten year old frocks, they looked good back then!

All the while, as I discarded dress after dress, I was a laughing stock, to myself! Good heavens, the last time I wore that outfit, I didn't need to lose ten lbs!

I moved on to other things. Some were very easy to toss. They truly didn't fit, not my body nor my life style now. Some of them were heart breaking! I remember wearing that to the hospital when one of my grandchildren was born. Or that on a date with my soon to be husband. Or that on the plane on our trip to Las Vegas to get married. These weren't just clothes, they were memories. Clothes I have ignored for a long time. Just knowing they were there was some kind of comfort I suppose.

I guess you can see where I'm going with this. I know very well that I will never wear those clothes again. I'm keeping them as reminders of happy times, or maybe skinnier times. And my really special memories, the notes, a pressed flower or two, baby bracelets, all those really precious things from a lifetime of loving and living, are contained in a box on the shelf. But the clothes, whats with the clothes?

I spent a long afternoon really thinking about those things. They aren't pictures. They aren't little scribbled valentines written by a five year old in Kindergarten. They aren't a necklace with a broken chain. They are just clothes. Ill fitting, out of style, space stealing pieces that don't really mean all that much, not when I stand back and really think about it.

So, now, thanks to Sherry's post about ten minutes a day, I embarked on a journey of self discovery and getting organized. And now I am! My closet is cleaned out and I can say I can and will wear everything in there, and if I don't wear it some time in the next six months (or maybe a year) they will be gone too. As for the memories those clothes evoked, I still have them. They didn't go anywhere.

Most of them went to charity. Some that were from very special occasions, like the dress I wore at that little chapel in Las Vegas when I married my husband, or a skirt that was made of the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen, or even the darling little cow buttons on a blouse, I cut up and made the sweetest little quilt. Its here with me now, draped over the back of my desk chair. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Now my helpful friends, my next project is my craft cabinets. Any good advice? Will I ever finish that huge cross stitch of a school bus? Or etch that vase? Or make anything out of all that fabric? Or make doll house furniture again?

Truly, I am not a candidate for that TV show Hoarders. But I do have lots of craft items and many I have had for a long time. What if I get rid of all of it and suddenly find I must make something?