Um, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, cleaning shit out.
I've been holding onto some clothes since I got pregnant with the about to be 8 year old Ironflower. I've been holding onto some other clothes that I despise because I bought them for super cheap when my body did not bounce back after having two kids in 15 months. I've been holding onto some jewelry because I loved it in 1996.* I also hit my make-up drawer, which had some eyeliner that dated from approximately 1995, the last time I had the patience for eyeliner.
I have been holding onto a lot of stuff, in other words.
At first, I started the great clean out because I was inspired by Cindy's blog. And then it was because I was looking for baby stuff to give to some friends of friends who lost everything during Sandy. Then I noticed that I have jeans in SEVEN SIZES. SEVEN.
This is what happens when short, curvy people who love to eat start having babies in their thirties.
Anyway, I now have approximately 15 boxes and bags sitting in the hallway, waiting to be picked up on Tuesday. To be fair, it's not all clothes. But it is mostly my stuff. Though I didn't bag the make-up because of it being almost 20 years old and all. Possibly I should have donated it to science.
Anyway, it may sound weird, but as I clean stuff out? I feel like I'm purging old feelings too.
That's a lot of feelings.
Especially all those "I should be able to fit into my old clothes" feelings. Which have not been the least bit helpful in helping me to fit into said clothes. Which someone else could be enjoying.
We've been going through some crap lately, Hot Guy and I. Nothing life threatening, but some serious setbacks and strains and whatnot. And getting rid of all this stuff has made me really happy. Possibly too happy, but whatever. It's more mature and healthy than stress eating a cake. Or drinking a bottle of wine.
Not that I've ever done that.
With a whole cake.
*We're not talking about fine jewelry here, just to clarify. We're talking about fake gold from New York and Company.
5 comments:
I have never eaten most of a batch of freshly baked peanut butter cookies. I do understand exactly what you mean about getting rid of those old feelings. I have held on to stuffs and things for all these weird reasons; reasons like "but all red-blooded Americans are supposed to have one of these", or "my mom gave me this, (even if it hasn't fit in eleventy years)", "I might wear this one day (even though I pretty much hated it the moment I got it home)". It's nice to let go of "supposed to", and "what if...?". Kudos to you for cleaning out the emotional closet. Also? Who gives a shit what number is on the tags in your clothes? You are beautiful, just as you are.
Thank you, Cindy. For your words, your kindness and inspiration.
(((hugs)))
I need to do this. I knew that when I read Cindy's blog, and I know it again now that I'm reading yours.
It is amazing how many emotions and feelings we store with our stuff.
I've been clearing stuff out lately, too, and I know exactly what you mean. Right now, my closet looks so empty because I only have in it things I can wear, but it feels so good! And it saves so much time.
I also started clearing out the girls' clothes. I started pitching the stuff that's ratty and stained "for play." I whittle their stuff down to a handful of play clothes and a reasonable amount of school clothes. (Why have ten pink shirts?) It's so much easier for them to pick out their clothes and dress themselves (even Bee!) They know which drawer is for school an which is for play and when they get dressed, I'm not sending them back because they're wearing an okay shirt or a good shirt, but not a good good shirt and, "you really should wear a good good shirt today." It's also made it a lot easier for me to see what they really have so I can plan to replace it in my budget. Before, we had tons of clothes lying around, but I didn't really know what we had (which ended up being a lot of crappy clothes that weren't good enough to wear anywhere but the back yard.) Laundry is also a whole lot easier, too.
I still have a long way to go in our house, but I've just gotten tired of giving up space to junk. We need that space.
My next target is toys. That's going to be a hard one for me. I'm a toy hoarder. It's crazy.
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