F*uck You Marie Kondo! I like stuff!!

I’ve always seemed to have a knack for decorating the places that I have lived – whether it was a bedroom in a shared apartment to my own condo, I always made my places look nice and feel comfortable. I’ve done the same with dressing – no matter what size I’ve been, and trust me – I have been them ALL, I managed to dress stylishly. It also never mattered how much money I had. Sometimes I could shop at Bloomingdales, and other times it was Walmart.

I like stuff – no, I LOVE stuff! I love clothes, accessories, shoes, tech stuff, gadgets, small appliances, beauty products, household decorations – it doesn’t matter – I pretty much like everything!

I watch a lot of television and television shopping (don’t judge!) The sales people (hosts) on those channels really know what they are doing! They convince you to buy things you never knew existed – and now that you know – you can’t live without it! I’ve regretted very few purchases and returned even less than I regretted, but I think that’s primarily because I’ve never calculated how much I have spent.

This year, with the release of the Marie Kondo series on Netflix, it seemed the whole world was decluttering. News stories were written about the record number of donations that Goodwill and Red Cross and other thrift stores were receiving. Everyone was purging and cleaning and then purging some more with the next episode.

Everyone felt so happy and free, and since I’m all about happiness, I felt that I had to explore this – but I was pissed…because I really love my stuff and I resented Marie Kondo for having to do this!

I looked around my place to find something that didn’t bring me joy. I seriously couldn’t find anything! I’ll give a little background here – I recently relocated a few months ago. A few months before that, my Dad passed away. There was a lot of purging and cleaning after each of those events. In a new space, the things that I purchased to go into my space are still new and my place brings me immense joy when I come home. Everything that is in my home I love and cherish.

How on Earth was I supposed to write this blog post, if I wasn’t willing to part with anything? I was contemplating that thought as I went into my bedroom closet to get ready for an event I was going to. When I opened the closet door, it hit me like a ton of bricks. My closet! An ever source of clutter and chaos. I know I’m not alone on this. There are many women whose closets are full to the brim…some, also like me, have clothes in different sizes, clothes with tags on them, and clothes they don’t even remember buying!

Again, before my move I donated (at a minimum) seven HUGE black garbage bags of clothes to Goodwill. I took another three car trunks full to a friend’s church ministry, and sold another two bags to a consignment store. I felt very good when the moving trucks came. I agreed to a couple of months between when I went into contract to sell my condo and my actual move date, so I was packing for quite a while. I would set up a box in my spare room, and every time I would take an outfit from the closet and wear it, instead of putting it back in the closet after it was washed – I packed it. I did not realize how much clothing I had until I had to UNPACK it! There were more clothing boxes than household item boxes, and way too many clothes for my smaller apartment sized closets. Clearly there was more purging to be done.

I moved from North Carolina, a relatively mild weather state to South Florida – REALLY mild. Winter clothes in West Palm Beach tend to mean close-toed shoes and long pants! My faux fur coat was probably going to get little use down here. So, too, were the 24 turtleneck sweaters I had accumulated. They needed to be donated – and can I say that more than half of those had the tags still on them! I parted with ANOTHER three huge bags of clothing. I knew there was more I could donate, but I was in denial. My friend, Kim, who had done this move before, told me that I would never wear my boots – I ADORE boots! I was in denial…telling myself that boots are a fashion statement…you don’t always wear them for the warmth…I would wear them, I said! I had lived in San Diego, and boots were a big thing there…surely, it couldn’t be much different here, right? WRONG. I did wear a pair – once, just to prove my point, but I looked ridiculous and felt so out of place.

So with all this purging, my closet should be decluttered and nice and neat and filled with only things I truly love and bring me joy, right? NOPE. Because as I was purging, I was also purchasing…more and more and more. I justified it that now I needed clothes for this new climate, I needed sandals to replace my boots, bathing suits to replace my sweaters – there were good reasons (at the time) for all of my purchases.

But now as I sit looking at my closet with this Marie Kondo situation staring me in the face, I realized I did have some work to do. I still needed to purge, but along with the purging, I needed to face the demon inside me that keeps me BUYING all new stuff to take the place of the old. So I made a decision. A BIG one.

Beginning May 1, 2019, I’m going on this journey of self-discovery. It’s going to begin with a pledge. For a period of ONE YEAR, I will not be purchasing and new items of clothing. No shoes, no handbags…not even underwear! Cold Turkey! That’s it.

I’ve never done anything like this before in my life, and I admit I am a little scared. I suspect that there is a lot going on in my sub-conscious mind that keeps me buying new clothes…and why I feel like I can’t ever wear the same thing twice. I hope a year from now I will have learned a lot about myself.

I’m going to take you all on this journey with me. I will share everything with you…my thoughts, my fears, my pictures. I’ll plan to update the blog, specifically on this topic, around the first of each month. Let me know in the comments section what YOU think about this Marie Kondo craze and are you joining it? Send me pictures! Have you decluttered your life, and has it made you happier? I want to know!

Until next time…

Go Happy Yourself!