Day 218 of 365 - Spring Purge

Well, I still have not started spring cleaning.  Who knows whether it will even happen this year?  Instead, it may just be a case of cleaning something, like windows, blinds or cupboards, when I can no longer tolerate their appearance.  That's the kind of task I might pursue on a day where I get an unexpected gift of time, and can throw myself into a frenzy of cleaning for a couple of hours.

I received such a gift of time today, with a change in schedule.  However, rather than cleaning, I decided, since it was laundry day and clothes were already on my mind, to go through my closets and dresser.  I've been meaning to do this for awhile.

As I've written about before, I was kindly given a lot of new to me clothes from friends in the past year.  While I did do a lot of sorting and selecting when I first received them, I still have had a lot of items in my closets.

For me, this is a task that definitely requires being in the right frame of mind, since it involves trying on clothes.  Even when I do go clothing shopping, I might quite enjoy going through racks and shelves to select items.  Taking all the items to a dressing room to try them on is another matter.  Shopping fatigue quickly sets in after a couple of visits to the change room.  I suppose this is why it's helpful to go with a friend who will cheer you on, especially if you are really in need of a wardrobe update, or a special occasion outfit.

In any case, today the mood struck.  I've been wanting to gather a substantial donation to take to the thrift store this weekend, so the timing was perfect.  I'm happy to report that I've filled a large green garbage bag!

What I ended up doing, was pulling out questionable items and piling them on the bed.  Then, I quickly tried them on, had a brief glance in the mirror, or just judged by how the fit was.  Yes items went back in the drawer or closet.  No items were folded and stacked to go in the donation bag.  Today, it was mostly pants, capris and shorts.  Tops and dresses will have to wait to another day.

Since I did not want this chore to take long enough to make me miserable, I was fast.  No time for dickering was allowed.  Unless the item fit well and felt really good, out it went.  I still have more than enough clothes, so it is not a hardship.  The result is that, for what I have tackled so far, I know that what is left in the closet fits.  Also, I have more space in my closets and more free hangers again.

It feels good to have checked one item off my spring to do list.  Clearing items and space is a way of clearing energy too.  I now feel more ready to welcome the warmer season.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 53 of 365 - Christmas Decorating at Tortoise Pace

This past weekend the Facebook posts with photos of completed Christmas decorating began showing up.  Some people decorate every room of their common areas.  Some have up to three Christmas trees.  I admire those photos.  It's all very lovely and festive.  Those people are the hares in the race to Christmas.  I am the tortoise. I'm not judging.  People have their reasons for wanting to get it all done early.  That way they can enjoy gazing upon their holiday décor for several weeks.  Or, they may be entertaining with holiday parties or family get togethers on whatever date works for them. I love the holiday season, the lights, the decorations, the food, the general sense of magic in the air.  But this year I'm just having a little trouble getting the momentum going for decorating.  Before our first snow, which is now gone thanks to a few days of rain, I got excited and put up the balcony lights and garlands.  We have been e...
Read more

Day 86 of 365 - Year End Gratitude

Today I was out doing some of my usual weekend grocery and household shopping.  I noticed that the selection was more limited and that there were empty spaces and shelves.  Most of the holiday inventory that was added to aisles and end displays is disappearing, now at clearance prices.  Regular inventory shelves have not been fully restocked, probably due to some staff being on a vacation break. This made me realize how much we take for granted that everything we want will just 'be there' when we arrive at stores to shop.  It's part of our instant gratification culture here in North America, but it is certainly not at all typical in many other parts of the world.  We are so fortunate with all the choices we have, but we also just assume they will always be there. I felt grateful for the staff of the stores who are spending their shifts restocking the shelves for us.  I said a friendly hello to the produce manager at the grocery store, a man who goes out...
Read more

Day 13 of 365 - The Joy of Singing - Part 1

When I was growing up we had an old upright piano in our living room.  My mother had learned to play piano and organ as a young girl.  She continued to enjoy it as a past time during her years of homemaking and raising a family.  Often she would play from one of her songbooks and some of the children, usually the girls, would stand nearby singing and looking over her shoulder to read the lyrics. Those were fun times for me and I enjoyed singing melody lines and sometimes trying a harmony.  In elementary school I learned some basic sight reading of music and had some time in the school choir.  But, most of my singing happened at home or at church. I was raised as a Catholic and in my pre-teen and early teen years what were then known as folk choirs and now are better known as contemporary choirs came into vogue.  Our small town choir seemed to have limited access to that spiritual music genre and struggled by with a limited number of hymns/songs.  I...
Read more