Thankful Thursday/ Episode 58

This whole thing started when I read THIS great post over at Clothed Much. Elaine has what she calls a "minimalist closet." She’s conscientious about what she keeps around for a couple of different reasons. You’ll have to check out her blog and let her explain all of that to you. But, it got me thinking. I REALLY need to purge my closet. There are clothes in there that haven’t seen the light of day (except when they are transported during a move) in years. Some of these clothes don’t fit me. Some of them are in disrepair. Some of them I’ve just forgotten about. So what is the use of cluttering up my closet with all these extra clothes? All they are doing is obstructing the view of the lovely pieces I want to bring out to play! It’s time for a closet overhaul.

I cannot believe I'm posting my closet for the world to judge see

As a lover of clothing, these types of purges are never easy for me. Inevitably, there will be something I will throw out that I will reach for next season. Even though the item hasn’t been worn for years, suddenly it will be all the rage next year and I WON’T have it anymore. But, that is a risk I am willing to take. Will it be inconvenient? Sure. But, will it be life threatening? No, probably not.

Elaine’s blog post wasn’t the first time I contemplated my packed out closet. I’ve stumbled upon a few blogs (THAT I LOVE) that also subscribe to the less is more mantra. It isn’t a new idea. I'm sure you’ve all heard of 30 for 30, right?? Kendi at Kendi Everyday first announced a 30 for 30 project in April of this year. (I'm not sure how many re-mixes she’s done since the first one, since I only discovered her blog recently.) But, the idea is that she picks 30 items of clothing and wears just those items, mixed and matched, for 30 days. To top it off, there is no shopping allowed during the project. In the end it’s pretty inspiring how cute she looks with so few options from which to pick. If that doesn’t impress you, what about this? There was this article in the NY Times about a group who’s doing a similar project except they only allow themselves 6 items for 30 days and have vowed to not shop for a year! That, my friends, is hard core.

Now, as I contemplated attempting a project like this, I started to break out in a cold sweat. I mean, even the idea of purging unworn clothes is a little bit daunting. To scale back to only 30 items for a whole month is terrifying. And NO SHOPPING AT ALL?!?!? That’s difficult to grasp. And I'm not even that much of a shopper!

Total disorganization and overwhelming closet chaos

Let’s just stop for a minute and objectively look at my situation. I have too many clothes to fit in my closet. I have so many clothes that many of them don’t get worn on a regular basis. There is such abundance it will be an ALL DAY project to sort through and pair down. The kicker is that this has caused me a teeny bit of stress. seriously. Now, we won’t get into the greed entitlement issues this is bringing to the surface. I'm gonna go ahead and talk to Jesus about those on my own time. Instead for this post I’d rather focus on the gratitude.

Episode 58: “Today I am thankful for … too many clothes being an issue.”

How fortunate am I that I live a lifestyle in which wearing only 30 items of clothing for 30 days sounds like a challenge I could possibly fail? What a blessing that I can (and do) look at clothing (what I wear and what others wear) as a way of expressing oneself, as a creative outlet, and when it’s done right as art, instead of as a mere necessity for survival.

So, today I am thankful.