BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality New Age Confessions of clutterholics...

Oh trust me, I don't plan upon giving away ALL my sweaters...Im hell bent on packing my crimson wool peacoat in the cedar chest as well. It just fits so beatifully and is such an amazing color...even if it is a shade too big for me now. Either way, When visiting my bf in VA, it was 55 out and I wore a tank...he thought I should be wearing a light jacket or something, I told him that in NH 55 was considered summer. haha, course I also got to cuddle with him anyways =]

But I DO have to go through all my clothes anyways seeing as in the last 18 mos Ive gone from nearly a 22 to a 16..dont ask how I did it because I wasn't trying... probably less 'grazing' (snacking) around the house.

I read somewhere the other day that piles of papers are "little monuments to procrastination". I thought it was cute.

hmmm..."little monuments of procrastination" - a perfect name for all the unfinished paperwork I have sitting around. My son had 2 car accidents in the last 10 months and I am sorting insurance payments and doctor bills to try to get it all finished. That is one more example of how life can quickly become cluttered. The overwhelming chore is enough to make one procrastinate.

Hey, congratulations on the weight loss, Wendy!

Trish

We came to the conclusion yesterday after antiquing for a few hours that while we kick ourselves for getting rid of all of that stuff that now sells for big bucks, we would have had to rent a warehouse to store it in for all the years it took for it to come back in fashion! I am sure that would have eaten up all of the future profits right there!

Oh good! I'm in good company. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As for my clothes, I hadn't realized I had so many until we moved last time. My husband can't even use the master bedroom closet. LOL! He uses the other room. And he bought me a nice dresser but I've filled that too. In the garage I have storage bins full of more clothes. Yes, I guess it is sentimentality. I even have my college graduation robe, my prom dresses, and more. I did donate one old blouse recently. I do it slowly, very slowly. <img src="/images/graemlins/queen.gif" alt="" /> Eventually I'll join year 2006.

Some of your comments are so spot on & entertaining - they are going right into my workshop!

You know that "I keep it ten years & the day after I throw it out I need it" experience? That is a classic thing to happen- you actually create these experiences when you have inner conflict going on about letting go. However ask yourself if it was really worth living with that object lying around for ten years waiting for the moment of use? Was it really that priceless? Would it really have been that difficult to nip down to the shops & pick up something similar...usually not (I know I'm going to get bombarded with the exceptions now <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />)

Wow...that is a lot Darling. What if you have a 'try it all on day'? Invite a friend for honest opinion & to take away the things you discard so they can't sneak back in the closet- even better if she is a similar size- cos then she might like to have some of your less successful outfits if they suit her as 'payment'. Have a bottle of wine & some music & treat it as a bit of fun. Do it with the 'current' wardrobe (it is going to be a while before the sentimental stuff gets dealt with I feel!) Anything that you don't feel comfortable or attractive in goes- no matter how much you paid, how designer it is, or how new it is. You end up with a wardrobe full of clothes you really like wearing that make you feel so good & that are easy to find because they aren't all crammed in!

An idea for the sentimental things that you can no longer wear...take a photo of the garments for posterity, then make patchwork out of them so you have an heirloom quilt that has lots of happy memories attached to it. I know that idea has probably given you palpitations at the very thought...

I saw a wonderful quilt one time made up of old college T-shirts - it was on HGTV or TLC or something like that.

The woman had made it for her husband when he finished his doctorate's degree.

Not only did it look really cool, but i'm sure it was super soft - being made out of Tshirts!

I saw something like that at the local fair here a few years ago...it was a girl scout project and it won a few ribbons for originality and the like. It was beautiful and I thought a great way to commerate something of importance/sentimentality with out keeping a gigantic drawer of unworn tee shirts.