I have strived to declutter my space for the past 4 years, since we moved to our new house in 2019.
That move was horrendous that I did not recover for a few weeks while I was 30 weeks pregnant that I promised myself I would never put myself in that situation again. I would never have that much stuff to move again.
So I was on a journey to reclaim my freedom through decluttering.
It was endless, and for a while I did not see the difference.
I was still overwhelmed with so much clothes and little clutters that did not seem to dwindle. At the same time, my mom kept nagging me about donating away things that we might have needed to use. She was not able to see the freedom, just yet. As a Vietnamese mom, saving up and thrifting were good habits so that we saved up whatever money we could.
I saw clutters in a different light. I thought they were weighing me down, blocking my flow, taking up my energy and so I kept pushing on though.
I always would have a small bag in my closet for clothes donation. Any items that did not fit anymore, or did not feel comfortable, I put in the donation “bag”. Any mail or paper advertisements, I went through them right away and placed them in the recycling bin. Morgan’s toys, clothes, extra books, I made an effort to donate them as well.
At the same time, though, some stuff still found their ways into my closet and drawers from my impromptu shopping trips or from my close friends with extra clothes and kids’ toys.
So it seemed no matter how much I decluttered, clutters still came back. That was when I realized, decluttering is 20% decluttering, and 80% preventing clutters.
That was when I realized I needed to be much stricter about what I brought inside my space. Are they worth it? How much value would it bring? How often would I use it? Are they comfortable? Do they last long? Do I have something at home that can serve the same purpose?
That was when I started observing my purchasing pattern, my usage pattern, and making rules for my purchases.
One prime example I can give is the change in my clothing purchase. I observed that I love organic cotton clothing and always grab them for my daily use. “Plastic clothing” makes me sweat and uncomfortable. I always regretted when I wore such clothing to work or outside or even at home. This observation changed my purchasing habit. When I thrift-shop or purchase clothes now, I only aim for organic cotton, and donate away my other uncomfortable clothing. This way, I now own a few comfortable and simple pieces of organic cotton tops now with short and long arms, perfect for daily use. I have a few more formal cotton ones with collars for school and work. I choose simple and generic patterns, and avoid more “trendy” types for longer time use.
The tipping point came maybe 2 or 3 years after I started in 2019.
I felt I had dramatically fewer clothes in the closet, fewer clothes to launder, fewer clothes to fold/put away, fewer clothes to manage overall. I did not know that having a smaller closet could bring me so much freedom. One fewer piece of clothing saves me only seconds to put away but its impact of one fewer piece of clothing can increase ten-fold when taking into the whole process of keeping and cleaning that piece of clothing and the lessened mental weight.
Fast forward to now, 4 years since I started this journey, the compounding impact is manifesting. My closet looks very different. I haven’t counted how many pieces of clothing (tops and pants) I have but maybe fewer than 75. I have at most 10 pairs of socks, 5 scarves, 2 toques, one laptop backpack, 3 crossbody bags, 1 handbag, 1 small backpack, 1 leather crossbody bag for formal event.
I have loved every moment of this journey: the easy and the difficult emotions, but above all, the physical and mental freedom.
The freedom my family and I deserve all along.
Regards,
Thao #Day19 #30DayWritingChallenge