Cleanin’ House….

I’ve always been a lover of fashion. I don’t think that’s a surprise. When I say fashion, I mean every aspect of it from hats to shoes. I have loved it all since I can remember. I used to play in my mom’s clothes and we’d make little outfits out of t-shirts and put a belt on me so they’d fit me like a dress. As my love for fashion grew, so did my love for its counterpart, shopping. I would shop for any reason at all. I would shop when I was happy, sad, mad, stressed, hungry or bored. There was never a reason I could find that would stop me from shopping. Now, I have always been frugal so I never really spent too much money but I acquired a lot of stuff. I had three closets full of clothing that I didn’t even wear. So, it was time to figure out how to fix this little issue. The problem wasn’t that I ran out of money. I ran out of SPACE.

When I moved, I initially brought everything with me. I had to get an external storage unit which brought with it a hefty bill that was really unnecessary. I wanted to get rid of the storage unit and fit everything in one place. There began my mission to get rid of things that I don’t wear. I called the team and by team I mean my mom. We started going through my clothing pretty much every weekend for a few weeks. I was finally able to get rid of the storage unit and had all of my stuff in once place. As I got rid of things, I noticed that a lot of the things I bought were for occasions that never came up. This would be cute for: a brunch, a swanky little day date, a football game, a pooI party and every other random occasion you could imagine. I had a dress picked out for my bridal shower dress! (I kept that though lol it’s beautiful!)

It became clear that shopping, wasn’t really for the clothes. It had become an emotional outlet. I could go and get lost in the thrift store. I am very much a loner. I love thrift stores because if you go at the right time you’ll be in the company of very few people. Anyhoo, I knew that I needed to get to the root of this problem or it would overtake me.

One thing that became important for me in this process was to address feelings that caused my desire to shop so much. I did some soul-searching, prayed, read books, articles, talked to people and went to therapy until I could get down to the core of this thing!

As of today, I have given away about half of the clothing I own. I am still getting rid of things on the weekends. Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE fashion but i love me more. I fill my time with other things. Learning to be content with own presence was the major key! Honestly, I don’t even notice the stuff is gone and I feel like my fits are just as fly! I have been able to organize my life so I can have a clear mind. I feel free. I don’t ever want anything to control my life…even if it’s just shopping.

Thanks for reading!

Living Clutter free,

Lo