Behold my husband’s side of the closet. Lesson learned: life is simpler with only 14 things to pick from. Decisions still have to be made I guess, but at least one corner of your life would be simpler. And when your household mantra has become “nothing’s easy”, simplifying any small corner of it counts.
I’m feeling the pull here to slip into the why’s and wherefores of women and their clothes, which mostly boil down to a lifetime of hearing the message “look pretty at all times.” Not just hearing it, getting beat over the head with it. I shall resist… for now… because today’s soapbox is not that, it’s minimizing the daily decisions that have to be made. There’s plenty of those in the rest of the day to fill a person’s head, and I’d do anything to help my days run easier.
I’m a big time thrifter and get bored easily, so adding something new to the closet is easy. Too easy, really. Going to the thrift store to treasure hunt is, literally, cheap thrills for me. The trouble comes when you add without subtracting. This clinging to shirts and skirts as if they were gold has got to stop!
But it’s not my fault. Dressing rooms are rigged with the magic mirrors from Snow White. “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is fairest of them all!” Me, of course, in this dress that I will now pay you for. ha. I know this is true because it never looks as good the next time I put it on, at home in front of a “regular mirror”.
Organized chaos. A creative brain at work!
Keeping his wardrobe manageable is easy for Bill. Add a shirt, toss a shirt. Or rather, wear everything until fraying edges makes sure the rag bag in his shop is never empty. Bill never complains about his share of closet space — his, 3 feet; hers, 11. ON THE OTHER HAND, behold his shop!!!
I used to secretly scoff at all the people I knew who had desk jobs and complained about being so exhausted. Really? Sitting at a deck? It was many years before I realized this mental fatigue was because of all the decisions they had to make. The truth is, I don’t want that many choices. Paint store owners hear it all the time, “There’s just too many choices!” There’s a point in every homeowner’s life as she spruces up the house, when confusion over new colors or matching colors takes hold. My collection of clothes is approaching this level of confusion, but I’m reminded every time Bill leaves his side of the closet open to discard another piece of clothing. And I love that because reminders keep me on track.
Weeded out this week: Three tops. Two of them feel dandy when my arms are hanging down, but at some point in the day I’d like to move them! The other one was mostly gray, which made me look rather cadaver-ish. I’m still wrestling with the luscious leather handbag that I never use anymore. I’ve put it in the donation bag on three separate occasions, but snatched it out the next day.