This is a long-winded post but it has been a month in building up. And hopefully it also marks a new stage in my life as I settle down comfortably in my 40s, where I’m becoming more mindful, more calmer, think about what I need versus what I want, what kind of a world I want to leave for my daughter and do my part for it in my tiny way, and focus on how I want to live the rest of my life. So here goes.
Exactly a month ago on the first day of this new year I thought I’ll organise my closet. I pulled out clothes, folded and folded and it looked like it was never going to end. The worst thing was I hadn’t worn many of the clothes I had and some even had tags on them. It was like a revelation, and I was seeing inside my wardrobe with fresh eyes. I realized what a position of privilege it was to possess so much and I was abusing it by buying even more. I was wasting my money, hoarding unnecessary clothes and cramming my house with too much stuff that ultimately I didn’t need. There was just too much negative energy all around.
I made a vow right then that I’m not going to buy any new piece of clothing, footwear, handbags or yarn this year. The only exceptions will be underwear, anything I get as a gift, and any specific yarn that I would need for a specific, custom ask. As a first step I thought I’ll break the year down, keep a target of 3 months, evaluate where I stand, buy only the absolutely necessary items if I need to and move on to the next 3 months of not buying. I am also going to use all the clothes, shoes and handbags I haven’t used yet, give away the ones I can’t, and mend the ones that I’d pushed to the corners if a button was missing or if there was a tear.
It’s been exactly a month now and I’m so proud to say I have stuck to my resolve. So this is what I have done in the last one month:
⁃ Sorted through my handbags and kept only 5 that I knew I would use, and gave the rest away to who would be happy to use them.
⁃ Bataany and I worked through her wardrobe, kept only the clothes she wears regularly and gave away 70% of her clothes to a deserving charity. She’s never worn and never will wear some of these clothes and most of them are too small for her now but still in great condition.
⁃ I have pulled down a great many boxes from the storage cupboards and thrown/given away most of the stuff I had kept for the one-day-I-might-need-it scenario.
⁃ As for the mending part, I’ve stitched up two lost buttons in 2 shirts, mended a kurta which had a torn seam, and patched up a hole in one of my jeans.
What I’m most proud of though is this black tunic you see on top that had a noticeable hole on the shoulder.
I did a little snooping around on Pinterest to see what would be the best way to cover that hole and came up with this. It started out as a small patch just enough to cover the hole, but once I started I just had to keep going and this is the result. It’s nowhere near perfect, it’s all wonky and the stitches are not at all neat, but it’s my first embroidery project and I’m so proud of it! Now I can’t wait to embroider more!
Next on my list is tackling my shoe cupboard which is already a nightmare. Wish me luck please!