In January of this year I took 9 days off from work. Vacation time, paid leave. We/I didn't have plans. We had no place we wanted to go and nothing special we could think of to do. I just started cleaning the house. I read, "The Year of Less" by Cait Flaunders prior to my vacation and something from her book sparked me to do some decluttering and minimalizing. So I began with my clothes. And just so you know, I work in retail at a woman's clothing store. So I'm immersed in clothing day in and day out. Anyway....I began. There are so many schools of thought when it comes to decluttering and "getting rid of" things. "If you haven't worn it in three months, if you haven't worn it in six months, if you haven't worn it in a year, tie a ribbon around your hangers and remove the ribbon if you wear the item and in three/six/twelve months you remove those things that still have the ribbon on them, does it spark joy? you only need one of anything, stay in a color palette." Which way is best for me and what way do I choose?

I just started by trying everything on. I took a very hard look at each piece of clothing and took into consideration color, style, shape, fabric content and fit. Then I would go into my husband's office (he offices out of the home) and I asked him his honest opinion. "It's nice. It's ok. Meh." I told him the only answers I would accept were, "No." and "Yes." They say (whoever they are) that you will be able to tell if you love something in the first 10 seconds of putting it on. I think I would agree with that. But back to my husband....it is very important to me for my husband to like what I wear and enjoy looking at it. After all, he looks at what I wear more than I do. Other than the fact that I took a very hard look at everything I had in my closet, my husbands opinion was the only  contributing opinion that I leaned on. I started out with two full closets of clothes, shoes and boots, one hall way closet with 1/2 of the space holding my jackets and coats. And a commercial sized rolling rack in my studio full of clothing as well. I lost track of the amount of clothing that I ultimately got rid of.  I have a resale shop just down the street from me and they accept everything that I take in, and I only take my best stuff to them, They put out for resale what they can and the remainder is donated to a shop that helps women in need. I have a 4-Runner and I filled the 4-Runner's back compartment twice, full to the brim with clothes for resale. Plus bags that were in the back seat. There were multiple trips to the charity store. They are just down the street for me as well. I tried to remember to be thankful for the lessons that these items had taught me. Let someone else have them and use them.  I was done with them. I had learned whatever it was I was to have learned from purchasing/owning them, (mostly what NOT to purchase) and I was ready for the next step.

Next step was the house in general. Books, kitchen things, knick knacks, jewelry, scarves, journals (unused..I love journals) papers, old notebooks, kids school stuff (all of them are grown and out of the house) toys from their childhood that I saved for the grandchildren...(grandchildren come with more toys than they need). Drawers full of pens that didn't work, old stationary that had yellowed on the edges due to lack of use. CD's, DVD's that were not listened to or watched. Old candles that had melted out of shape, dishes I didn't use, bowls (I collect bowls) I didn't use, cook books I wouldn't use, socks that were old and had lost the elasticity, hose that were the same way, swimming suits that weren't flattering, shorts that were NEVER going to be worn again. The list of things just never ends.

During this time I went back through my expenditures for the last year and a half and figured up how much of what I had spent was on clothing. .  .  . . . . .  I was gobsmacked but the amount of money that I had spent and was now sending to resale, giving away and throwing away. What a monumental financial waste. So few of the things I was getting rid of fell under the category of things I loved and wanted to wear. I had no clue what my style was because what I bought was all over the place. Since the first of the year I have systematically cleaned out my closets again and again. Just this past week I took over 100 items to resale and the back of my Volkswagen GTI is full with items to donate to the charity shop as I type. 

This week I watched a video on You-Tube that was talking about a 30 day challenge. On the first day you get rid of one thing, 2 things on the second day, and so on until you reach the 30th day. If you stick with it for the entire 30 days you will end up getting rid of 463 items. That's a major move towards decluttering and minimalizing your home/house/studio/life.  I have 120 items in the back of my car as I type. I'm well on my way to completely that challenge.

Currently I am going through my shoes and finally getting rid of those shoes/boots/sandals that are not comfortable. Working in retail you are on your feet constantly and your feet have to be comfortable. I have already identified three pairs of shoes that are going to new homes and I'm working on the rest. I'll update here in the near future concerning the shoes. I also have another bag of resale items to take to the Resale Shop. I cleared my purses a couple of weeks back and ended up keeping maybe 5 purses....and I'm thinking now that two of the five I've kept will not get used. Quite frankly, I am embarrassed at the excess that I have.

Getting rid of all this stuff has also made me confront some of my inner issues. One being my judgmental attitude and anger. You wouldn't think that cleaning up your life outwardly would cause you to focus more on what the core issues are but that's exactly what it has done. Each and every book I've read on the subject says that's what will happen. So now I'm decluttering on the inside. Resentments and hatreds and judgments are being looked at and scrutinized. I have asked the Lord to really and truly make lasting changes in my life in these areas and I'm trusting Him to help me.

I would love to get down to just what I need....what I use and what has a meaningful purpose in my life. I think that is attainable. But I need to keep working. I'll post more here as I feel led and let anyone that might happen upon this blog know that there is a person out here that would love to visit with them about their own journey into simplying their life. If you have a desire to do that and don't know where to start, read Elaine St. James, "Simply Your Life." It's an excellent jumping off point.

If you had one hour to take from your house what you needed what would you take?  I never really thought of this too in depth but I'm giving it serious thought. I'm giving thought to the challenge that is set forth in "Mini-Missions for Simplicity" The book suggests that you create a kit for yourself. One dish, one cup, one bowl, one pen, one this one that......Challenge yourself to see if you can live with just one of something. You can only use one glass at a time and you can then wash it. Same with a dish or a fork or a knife or a purse or a pair of shoes. It sounds crazy but why not try?

Happy Simplying.

Cindy