Uncluttering Campaign

For the last 2 weeks I have been running a personal campaign in my home... it hasn't got a name but it's slogan is something like: "clean house = clean slate" or "declutter the home to declutter the mind". "Messy" is the best way to describe 2011 for me, so as the end of 2011 draws near my natural inclination has been to clear any cluttered or messy part of my environment I have control over - the only environment I am in charge of is my house. Now I'm not just talking about the usual tidy-up, we're talking sorting and clearing a mass scale. First room was my home office - cause I started that process 6months ago which meant the floor had been covered in 'organised' piles for that long! I say 'had' because now I can say those piles aren't there anymore. There are a few new ones, haha:) I laugh cause the office has actually been 98% sorted now. I pulled out everything! It feels great to have chucked out so many unnecessary papers and receipts - don't worry I recycled. My desk is functional and I know where everything goes now. sigh of relief and a longer sigh of satisfaction

My wardrobe got the next shock this morning. I like to think of myself of not too vain and not too much of a hoarder. It's now become clear - thanks to this supposedly personal campaign against my home - that vanity is still an existent issue for me and, though I am not a chronic hoarder,  I have waaaayyyy more stuff than I NEED. I have had a large wardrobe all to myself and have managed to fill, FILL it with clothes - most of which I hardly wear. Sure most of them are 2nd hand [or many more than that], I'm not a big clothes shopper. But still I have many clothes. I wear maybe a 3rd of them regularly and I'll wear them til they can't be worn by anyone. So today was the time to be ruthless. Much more of a challenge than I thought. I can't believe how many times I thought: "maybe I will need that later" to clothes I said that to last time I had a clean out. I like jeans so I have quite a few of them! not anymore - but boy was it hard to give some of them away. There were more than a few times I thought: "I look good in this" which made me not want to give them away when really I didn't need them. I literally sat down and asked for Jesus' help at one stage cause I was feeling too attached to some clothes and couldn't decide! That's when I realised vanity and whatever it is - there's something else - exists and I have to keep fighting it. I am glad to say I have gotten rid of about 1/2 my clothes perhaps a few more. I still look at my wardrobe and think - how could I possibly need all this. Someone else would probably look at my wardrobe and tell me I don't have enough. There are all these unwritten rules about clothes in our culture. Like:

• you can't wear the same clothes 2 days in a row, definitely no more than that, otherwise people will think you don't wash your clothes
• dressing for an occasion requires a few different outfits to choose from cause you can't wear the same outfit to all similar occasions such as weddings
• dress for the environment
• have 'backups' just in case
• you have to 'look' professional to be professional and taken seriously [or is this one written somewhere?]

I subscribe to the 'just in-case' rule more than anything - what can I say, I'm a 'just in-case' girl [you can tell by what I pack to go anywhere]. I've never really like to professional one, but since I started working at a school I have had to take it more seriously. Before you ask - no I didn't become a youth worker so I could wear whatever I want to most of the time - though it is an advantage! :) Once I find an outfit for a special occasion I pretty much wear it to all of them if possible, yet I find I still have a couple of choices... hmmm... then of course there are a few articles of clothing I really have enjoyed wearing in the past that I have kept in the hope I may fit back in them again!

I find it interesting that people really notice when I get 'new' clothes because they mention it. Perhaps there is another rule I don't know about: wear a variety of clothes regularly so as to not bore the people who have to see you everyday ;) Well I apologise to those people who have to see me regularly cause I just got rid of half my clothes which definitely means less variety to look at :)

I don't think I have ever talked about clothes so much in my life! I'm really surprised you're still ready actually - but don't stop now ;) I'll finish it for you. I guess my conclusion is this: clothing is more than a physical need to  many of us, this fact alone is reason enough for us to consider thinking about clothes more - just differently so we can see what our clothes are really covering up beyond our skin.