Wednesday, June 15, 2005

It's A Good Thing I'm Working So Much Because...

In the past two (two!) days, I've bought...

A pair of running shoes
Three shirts
Socks
Lox pate
A laundry hamper
16 clothes hangers
Stickers
Fancy cheeses

Of that list, the socks and the runners were the only ones I could consider "necessary purchases" (apparently, I wear holes into footwear quite easily. I know, I know, holes in shoes are not normal. Stop judging). The laundry hamper and clothes hangers could be considered "practical spending" (didn't have a hamper, and my hangers are all wire. And Carson does say "never use wire hangers!"), and everything else, sadly, has to be put in the "frivolity" category.

After buying the three shirts, I was struck by a flash urge to organize, as happens on occasion. This time, as it does so often, at approximately 1 AM. This generally happens when something is so cluttered or crammed that (albeit after 3 months) I finally snap and have to clean it out.

One would wonder, this being a dresser, how messy can it be? Well, let me explain. I have one dresser, with three drawers. One drawer contains socks, underwear, and what could be called "little tops" - tees, tanks, that sort of thing. The next drawer holds my swimsuits, bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts) and pyjamas, as well as sweaters. The last drawer holds craft supplies.

Needless to say, drawer space is limited. This has never really been a problem; I don't have that much clothing. But lately it's been getting a little crowded, apparently enough so to push my "clean - NOW" button. So I took everything out of the drawers (the clothing ones, not the craft one), and went through it all. I managed to eliminate almost an entire drawer worth of clothing: things I never wear, or don't like. I also managed to rediscover a whole bunch of shirts I quite like but never wear, because I a) forget I have them, b) am scared I'll ruin them (which I've realized is stupid; they're clothes, the whole point is to wear them) or c) think that they're too dressy (and note that these are not formal dresses. It's like a shirt nicer than a beater). So, I ditched all the clothes I don't wear/like, and resolved to wear the clothes I do like more often.

I love being able to make resolutins like that; they cost me nothing, increase my enjoyment of life, and decrease clutter, all at once! So satisfying.

But no more buying. This is getting out of control.

1 comment:

Tessa said...

I did the whole organisation thing the other day too. Unfortunately I discovered that even though my "bottoms" (pants/skirts) drawer was quite full, the amount of stuff I own that actually fits ends up being two pairs of moderately loose pants and one skirt. So guess who has to go spend money on clothes....again.

Sigh.

Glad it worked out for you though.