Once upon a time (like, a week-and-a-half ago), I spent the day with my mother-in-law.
Actually, we do this every Wednesday.
But on this particular Wednesday, I was highly uncomfortable.
I had dressed that morning, choosing to wear my most comfortable jeans even though I couldn’t find my belt. Even though I knew (from irritating experience) that within an hour (the time it takes to drive to my MIL’s house) . . . those jeans would be stretched out.
And stretched out jeans worn sans belt . . . are highly uncomfortable.
I had hoped that wearing a long brown cardigan would help cover the sagginess between hikes. (Not hike: long trek through the woods. Hike: yanking up of droopy drawers with one hand while walking.)
But alas, this particular brown cardigan, while good at covering the rear, did nothing to hide the sag in front. Its fabric is rather slippery, and its design (plus MY design) causes it to fall wide open. Not hiding anything at all.
That plus a poor choice of undershirt meant I was left walking around a very nice department store holding my pants up with one hand while pushing a wheelchair with the other.
Which isn’t easy.
A very nice department store with plenty of belts. But I couldn’t/wouldn’t buy one since my MIL would want to buy it for me, which isn’t the purpose of these outings. Besides, my belt will turn up soon.
And then, as soon as I got home from my day of saggy-jeans-hiking and wheelchair-pushing, I remembered that I have another brown cardigan. One that falls quite beautifully and hides what needs to be hidden.
One that I purchased recently when I had forgotten about the slippery, poorly-falling one.
(Deep breath)
I do not need two brown cardigans.
Really, I don’t. So I purged the bad one.
And I’m proud of myself for making what shouldn’t be such a difficult decision, but is.
--Nony
You go girl!
Why is it so hard to toss stuff that doesn’t work???
Funny, I also got rid of a cardigan yesterday…
Good for you!!! Now do that every time you wear something. Keep it or trash. By the end of the year you should have nothing but things you love left in your closet.
Dawn is brilliant! I wish I had that much “real life” sense!
I’ve lost some weight recently and this has kinda been my mantra. I’ll wear it all day and if I find it was annoying/uncomfortable/too big/not my taste/holey/stained or what have you, when I take it off that night I either put it in the donate box or put it away. I have way less clothes but now I am aware of what type of thing I am missing or that I can survive fine with less.
i made this decision a few weeks ago. I have so many things I LOVE wearing and a bunch of “meh” clothes. If I put one of those on, I declare to the mirror “this is your last day”. Somehow it seems less wasteful to give it one more wearing. Lol.
Way to go!
Wanna know mine? Stirrup pants. Yup. I only usually wear them around the house with a big baggy sweatshirt that hides the tushi, but recently I decided I had too many sweats and it was time to kiss those oldies goodbye. As hard as it was, I tucked them into the donation bag (who would want them? but it helped me get rid of them) and now at least have cuter running pants/yoga pants. We’ll deal with those later, but at least they are this century! LOL
OMG I haven’t thought about stirrup pants in a long time. How funny! Glad you are working on improving this. I am also working on my overabundance of clothes, especially pjs and sweats…
Sounds like it’s time for some new pants….. Get rid of those too 🙂
And . . . they’re the ones that ripped that very afternoon at the grocery store!!!
See it was the “universe” telling you to move on past those too. Thanks for all your posts. I have been reading a book along with your blog that has really motivated me to start eliminating. Dropped off one bag of stuff to Salvation Army yesterday and have one ready for today. It’s feels good, but at the same time isn’t easy. Thanks for making me feel like I’m not alone in this. 🙂
I had a “Nony moment” the other night.
Here’s the deal. I had lost/misplaced my straight-edged trimmer that I use for scrapbooking. I re-organized my craft room and it wasn’t there. I checked with my daughters – no they had not borrowed it. SO….I did what ANY serious scrapbooker does and I ordered another one.
I was sitting in the computer room, telling my husband that I had to order another because the other one was gone. He said, “You mean like THAT one?” And pointed DIRECTLY to the ever-elusive trimmer.
I laughed, “Oh great, THERE it is.” And then he said, “So you’re going to throw this one away when the other one comes, right?”
I was shocked. My mind was full of excuses…..Of course not, it’s perfectly ok – the blade’s little dull and the brand is discontinued and I’ll never be able to replace it, but I can use it until……
AND THEN YOU popped into my head!!! Bring one thing in – take one thing out. Seriously, why would I want to keep a dull, out of date, un-updatable trimmer when I have a brand new glorious one on the way?????
You have changed my thinking, Nony. THANK YOU!
Love it!
This light bulb has just been lit in my life… I’ve started getting rid of things I don’t like on me, and wait for this, I wasn’t getting rid because if I did I’d not have much to wear, even though I wouldn’t wear said items… Crumbs if someone else said that I’d think they’d lost there marbles!
Oh, I soooo understand!
Great job, Nony!!!! You have me laughing envisioning you in the mall!!! 😀 I so understand this dilemma! I have an over abundance of shawls, MANY of the same color. And though I picked the ones I want to keep, the ones I don’t, won’t leave the house! I have to try a bit harder. 😉
Yes, but have you found your belt yet? 😉
I did!
Yay!
I misplaced my paper scissors before Christmas. Had to bring scissors home from work so I could cut wrapping paper. Then 2 days ago I misplaced my small scissors I cut thread with. Then my tax papers disappeared! (See a trend here, and the need for serious decluttering?) Yesterday I opened the drawer I keep my paper scissors in when they aren’t lost, too get something else out. And there were the scissors, in the back of the drawer they belong in! Next I picked up a magazine and there were my little scissors. And finally, paper lying on the floor that fell off the table that I hadn’t bothered to pick up yet turned out to be the tax papers. Hmm…
Read a great piece in Woman’s Day about decluttering, and they said–You don’t need 12 hammers, but you MIGHT need more than one…pair of scissors, roll of scotch tape, place to keep pens. So I did that: I populated every room in the house with at least one pair of scissors and one roll of tape. SO much easier than pretending those are gonna ever be in that one place you decided they would belong!
So yes, ditch a sweater you won’t wear. But also yes, keep scissors, nail clippers, and such things in a utility drawer in EVERY room. For your sanity.
Yay! I’ve trimmed by closet waaaay down, which means it’s quite noticeable when I don’t wear things. And yet I still keep them in my closet…because, ya know, I might wear it someday. /facepalm/ Meaning I still have to be very intentional, even though I’ve had a lot of success.
I was just thinking the same thing this morning as I dug through a pile of clean clothes that I’ve been meaning to put away for awhile now. *ahem* — but I realized just how many ‘black cardian thingys’ I own. You know, the kind that are thin, and sometimes (but not always) have a long asymetrical bottom. Seriously I have like 4 of these things in varying conditions, on top of a mixture of many other cardigans. And I only wear maybe 3 out of the 12 that I own. I also have this huge assortment of jeans. Jeans that are too tight, and I keep SWEARING I’ll lose that 10 pounds so I can wear them again. I’m buried in clothes and only 1/3 of them do I actually wear on a regular basis.
I’ve purged before too. Then I accumulate more, and 6 months later I’m back to square one. Someday I’ll learn. Until then I’ll nearly break my neck trying to get into my closet.
Every time I get back down to an 8 I get rid of the 10s, and then a year later the 8s are tight and I go buy 10s and get rid of the 8s. I need to realize this is the story of my life and keep both sizes around. Right now I need wish I had the 10s and it doesn’t feel like the right time of year to get into the 8s. At least I should sort them. But this is a declutter done wrong.
Dana, this is why I love reading your blog so much. You tell a story that is really close to how I feel about things, so real, so human, plus you make it hilarious!!! I associate with it, I connect to it, it feels just like what I would feel and do, and then POOF you change my ending. You show me a different way to end it than what I seem to be capable of. So I know I can do it, too. I love love love that!!!!! Thank you!!!
Wow, Elaine! This is going in my “favorite comments ever” file!! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this hilarious story. I love you more than I can describe! I’m not happy that we share identical brains, but it helps SO much to have someone out there who is like me. I have made many changes, thanks to you.
I’m happy to hear that!
I can so relate to your last comment because that is me. “what shouldn’t be such a difficult decision, but is” Very few people seem to understand the turmoil that can be created when something needs to be thrown or given away. My husband says, “just toss it already”, but I agonize. Thank you for sharing.
I am reading your blog from the beginning, and this post keeps popping up in the “You may also like…” spot, so I decided to CHEAT today and click and read it.
I SO struggle with this very thing. Shirts. Pants. Underwear. And for whatever reason, those things keep popping up, hiding the clothes I actually like to wear. I’m getting better at purging as I go, but just this morning, I pulled out a pair of underwear that I HATE because they cut me in a funny place and they’re super uncomfortable. I shoved them back in the drawer and pulled out a different pair…then stopped and pulled out the pair I didn’t want and made myself throw them away. (I’m not donating used underwear.) At least now I know I won’t be having this conversation with myself tomorrow, too!
Okay, back to October of 2010 🙂
~RC~