Closet Purge! Do It Now! An Amazing Feeling! ~ Nancy Shimmy

deCloset purge, done. As I look around my closet, I am left with an amazing feeling of freedom. I am left with only the clothes that I actually enjoy wearing. I feel freed from some unknown burden that I had this whole time. I lack the words to describe how amazing of a feeling it is to get rid of things that no longer serve me.

I love cleaning and organizing.

Yes I do. I love the process of cleaning and of organizing. I must add here, that I enjoyed the process a lot more before I got married and had kids. 🤫 Things stayed clean and organized much longer. Cleaning and organizing make me feel so good. I sat here a while trying to find the right words to describing but still haven’t come up with any other than it makes me feel sunny inside my being. (friends.. you are likely not surprised at my quirky choice of words lol)

Our family does a yearly purge of our bedrooms. This purge is the time where we go through all our clothes, books, DVDs that each of us own. (My daughter never is happy about organizing and decluttering her room.)

I can’t believe the amount of stuff I got rid of. In spite of all the changes made over the last two years. All the decluttering and minimalizing, I am surprised at how much stuff I personally got rid of. Honestly, I find that the more I grow on a personal and spiritual level, the less “stuff” I see to want or need.

As a result of this purge, I somehow managed to fill 3 medium bags of clothing, 2 bags of board games, and one bag of miscellaneous items. The bags I refer to are those bags our city requires use to use for for our recycled trash. Ours are medium size… which is quite big.

6 Questions I ask myself.

Whenever I go through my things deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, I have a few questions that I ask myself. Here is a list of questions based on the ones I use.

• Do I still wear it?
• Do I guilt wear it?
• Do I feel great wearing it?
• Is it damaged?
• Do I still fit in it?
• Would someone else enjoy wearing it?

So what did I get rid of this time around?

There were tops that I’ve had for a long time. I’m talking years. I kept wearing them because they were still in great shape. But you know what? They no longer reflected who I am inside, and I no longer felt “good” wearing them. But anytime I tried to give those items away, I was left with a feeling of guilt. So I kept them. Two weekends ago, I watched an episode of the Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”. YES! I have learned that to get past that guilt, I only had to thank the items (that no longer bring me joy) for coming into my life. It was exactly what I needed. Finally, I no longer feel guilt at letting go of items that no longer serve me, in spite of them still being like new. These items are now going to new homes where they will be well loved and well used. This makes me happy.

I’ve always been more comfortable in clothes that make me feel like “me”.

You know how sometimes you see something stylish in the store think “wow, that looks great!”. But then you take it home, wear it around the house and realize you have no connection to that piece of clothing. So you end up putting it on a shelf where you either forget about it or wear it out of guilt because it cost you money. Ugh!

Since I was little, I’ve liked wearing clothes that make me feel safe, comfy, free, and happy. But, from time to time, I fall into the trap of buying something for the only reason that it seems “new and exciting”. I get caught up in the moment only to realize, once home, that I have no connection to that item. That this piece of clothing doesn’t bring me “joy”, as Mary Kondo would say. You think I would have learned by now… lol

As a rule, my clothes of choice are comfy clothes. Clothes that I feel are “me”, “free spirit” and “earthy”. Clothes I can move in, stretch in, sit on the floor and still be comfortable in. Clothes that are able to keep up with me without fuss. Mostly stretchy jeans or shorts paired with a comfy sweater.

Moral of the story.

After going through all of my things, separating them into the give away pile, throw out pile, and keep pile.. I am left with an amazing feeling. Oddly, having less items of clothing is giving me a sense of freedom. Less to choose from. No more wearing this item, that I no longer like, because it cost money. So what if I wear the same outfit over and over. So what if people recognize what I am wearing. I am not one who believes I need a new outfit for every event I go to. I take pride in wearing the items that I love and make me feel good. There is an amazing sense of accomplishment and freedom when I look at my closet now. Less clothes = more organized = easy to choose an outfit.

What is your clothing style? What type of clothing do you connect with? Comment below and share with me what are your favourite items and why.

Yours in health, happiness and success,

Nancy Shimmy

Originally published at nancyshimmy.com on January 22, 2019.