Spring Cleaning

Happy Spring Break! This week is my college's spring break and instead of a destination of palm trees & ocean waves, I am stuck in Raleigh. While not necessarily a terrible place to be, I am terribly bored. With no class to attend, I have spent the beginning of spring break in my room brainstorming how to get out of the apartment without breaking the bank by shopping or what to eat out of boredom. While staring into space in thought, I have noticed how cluttered and junky my room is becoming. While some of the things I have on display mean a great deal to me, most of it could disappear and I wouldn't miss it. And then there's my closet...I have way too much to be wearing the same 10 shirts all the time. I see that as my style changes and I gravitate towards different or new pieces, I still look at the old things and think "oh I could definitely still wear that" or "I remember when I did [insert any and every activity here] that while wearing this" and so on and so forth. On the second night of break, I watched the documentary on Netflix, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. This documentary challenges viewers to look at each item they own and ask the question, "Does this add value to my life?" and if the answer is no...get rid of it. I love this question because it doesn't matter if you like something or if you paid a lot or if you use it once in a while. If something doesn't add any value or happiness to your life then why bother wasting space?

So the next day, I felt very inspired by this documentary, so with my free time I went through all my clothes and pulled out anything that isn't my style anymore or I never wear. There were many items that I still like but the problem is they don't make me feel good anymore and I have better things that I feel more confident and comfortable in and those are the items I am keeping. In the documentary, a lot of people try to live by the 33 rule, where they only have 33 pieces total including jewelry, shoes, and all accessories. 33. I have probably 5 times that...maybe anymore if I counted all the little boxes of earrings I never wear. I have so much and a lot of it could go to someone who would value it more than I do. After cleaning my closet, I still have a closet full. You could not even tell that I removed much if it weren't for the huge pile of now unused hangers. I want to start looking at the clothes in my closet every few weeks to get rid of more and more as I recognize all the pieces I put on and then take back off because I don't want to wear them.

I am so blessed to have so much and I see so much going to waste that I should give to someone else. If God has blessed you, that should over flow into the lives of others.

I am no where close to 33 items and I probably won't be for a long time knowing how much I love fashion (especially my shoes!!!!!) but I do want to rid myself of things I don't need and I challenge you to do the same. You can sell things, donate them, have clothing swaps with friends, or just give to people you know! It feels so good to me to get rid of old clothes I never wear. Being able to actually hang everything and not have to stuff things in drawers makes me feel so much more organized. It's like a mini detox.

Take good care of the things you value and give them your time & remember, every good minimalist needs a hair dryer.

If you want to not minimize and buy more clothes: Here's my Poshmark. Whatever I do not sell by May is going to be donated to Thrift 2 Gift!