Letter from the editor
I’ve never considered myself a pack rat or the kind of person who has an abundance of clothes or shoes. However, a couple weeks ago, I woke suddenly to a house shaking “Thud!” It emanated from my bedroom closet. Bob turned on the light and discovered that the closet crossbar and top shelves above collapsed, leaving a huge heap of my clothes on the floor.
“Just what I need,” I grumbled to myself before going back to bed. I literally had to dig out my shoes the following morning. Bob explained the screws were most likely not placed in a stud and he would take care of it. After a couple days, he did.
“All fixed” he proudly declared. I put my clothes back into place. The fix lasted less than five minutes! Everything came crashing down again.
Another week passed before Bob had gotten new and stronger reinforcements. In the meantime, I had been digging through “my heap” to find something to wear all week. My dogs were confused and couldn’t believe their good luck, considering my heap their new napping nest.
After Bob worked on the closet a second time with stronger supports, I once again began the arduous task of re-hanging and organizing my stuff. Only this time, I began to ask myself why I have so much stuff, causing this to happen in the first place.
As I dug through my heap, there was a great deal that I didn’t even realize I had. Then there were the clothes that just didn’t fit anymore. Ultimately, I decided to use the three-year rule. If it didn’t fit or I hadn’t worn it in three years, it could go. That eliminated about half of my stuff. I rearranged my closet which is now at a comfortable 70% capacity as opposed to the 120% it had been previously. I organized three large bags to donate to a local thrift shop. Ironically, in the end, it felt great to go through my things and get rid of all the excess.
Clutter can be distracting and as I’ve learned, create a lot of headaches. We don’t have to wait until spring or until our closets collapse, to clean and declutter our lives. Let my chaos inspire you to be intentional about what you bring into your home, and how you organize it. Hopefully it will give you a good laugh too.
Peace & Love,
Cindy
