A reason to purge

My dresser drawers barely close. I fold, stuff and shove, but they don’t stay shut. Fabric peers out from the top. Too much stuff.

I fancy myself a Purger, a lady who lives light, who doesn’t value things too much. But how can that be true when my drawers are half open, contents spilling out?

Mornings are usually a little frantic for me, often because I hit Snooze too many times. But mostly because of all the choices. Too many choices I feel compelled to keep because “What if I want to wear that shirt some day?” (I’m giving away my hoardiness, aren’t I?)

I talked about decision-making last week, and gave a short list of prescriptives for making choices. I am going to stand by all that stuff I said. But this week, I’m working it out. And you know what I found? Waffling in a decision isn’t only from lack of confidence. For me, it comes from too many options.

Whenever I pack for a trip, I take too much. I never wear all of it. But I always think to myself I’m so glad I had options. But am I?

I’ve taken a few trips where I only had a pair of jeans and a couple shirts. I had to get creative or get redundant. But it felt liberating not to try fifteen ways to wear a romper before deciding I don’t want to wear it at all. Like I did today.

You know the feeling, standing in the laundry soap aisle. I just need something that cleans clothes, but I have to choose between something that cleans clothes with fragrance or without, something that cleans clothes that makes them smell like clean clothes, or summer, or fresh-baked cookies. Seriously? I just need my clothes not to smell like sweat and look like I rolled in mud. Why all the choices?

Sometimes I just want it to be simple. Like someone should tell me what to do. Or give me only two selections. I don’t think I can handle more than that.

Now I love my free will and all. I’m not voting for a drone brain implant. But I know my life would be way easier if I held out fewer options to myself.

So thus begins my purge. My drawers need to shut, and that’s where I will start. My motivation won’t come by imagining my clothing will outfit the “less fortunate” because I’m going to give them to Salvation Army and a college girl is going to find them. And she is probably not poor.

But I will feel better. Less clingy, less needy. More concerned with the real stuff of life. The Intangibles.

We all need to get rid of something, lighten the load so we can make decisions with ease. Cause who needs to spend half the day just making up her mind? Not me.

What do you need to get rid of in order to make your life lighter and smoother? How are you going to decide what goes and what stays?

Also, if you have a suggestion for where my clothes should go, I’d be happy to hear it.