Deep down I knew I wasn’t as minimalist as I could be. But since I work from home now, I finally found the courage to be ruthless with my wardrobe and toss any item that I didn’t wear or kept passing over in the closet, or that were out of style or too tight, or belonged to the 24 year old me, instead of the present day me. It was a liberating feeling to bring some clothes I was tired of to the consignment store, and donate the rest. I was even able to part with costume jewelry that I had for years that I never wore and was just taking up storage space. It really is true that the more you let go of, the easier it becomes to let go. You just see that you are able to go on and nothing bad happens and you feel better and lighter, instead of regretting getting rid of something.
A lot of things I brought to the consignment store were things I bought myself on impulse. I would be having a bad day at work and would see a purse online or in a store and buy it just to have something new, just to cheer myself up. And I would use the purse a couple of times and then get tired of it. Now I think about purchases way more, put them on a list and wait before purchasing them to see if I really want them, and I think more about quality than quantity. If I have one beautiful small diamond necklace from my boyfriend that I adore, why keep tons of costume jewelry lying around that no longer resonates with who I am? It just doesn’t make sense. And now I can have a much smaller wardrobe since I really only go out on dates with my boyfriend, or to family parties or dinners or to workout, and can work at home everyday in pajamas or house clothes.
I’ve kept some things around in case I go back to office work one day but I sincerely hope that never happens. Working from home saves up so much more free time and money. I’m not tempted to shop at nearby stores on my lunch break like I was when I was going to the office daily, and I can work independently in peace and quiet which is a real luxury. I’ve realized that I don’t like waste, and if I can’t find a good home for something, it tends to stick around my apartment way too long. I always donate or try to sell clothes I don’t want, or give them to my mom to send to Colombia where we have poorer relatives, and I donate old books that I’m tired of to the library. Old magazines go to my mom but I almost never buy those anymore, don’t need more temptations to shop, especially now that my salary is lower.
Right now I’m trying to part with an old CD player that I never use because I can never seem to find the right spot for it in my apartment. I love music but I could just try to find a smaller set of speakers that hook up to my phone sometime down the line and save myself the headache of this bulky CD player/alarm clock. I use my phone as an alarm clock anyway. The thing is that the CD player still works, so I may give it away on craigslist (don’t have a freecycle group near me) :( and hopefully it finds a new home that way. I would feel bad just throwing it out. I have thrown out a lot of things but I really try hard to place things first just in case someone needs something that I don’t.
And I love the fact that I found Wen, a product that finally works on my hair and I can use up all my old conditioners as shaving crème and all my old shampoos as hand wash. I can also toss any and all gels/creams that never worked on my hair and save lots of space that way. I’m trying to use up old perfumes (I would wear to work) as air freshners and old body lotions that I just have too many of. I want to see less and own less and have more space. I thought I was minimalist before, but it’s always possible to get rid of some more. I try to imagine the item being lost or stolen and whether or not I would replace it if so, if the answer is no, then it pretty much doesn’t need to be in my life right now! It is really a good feeling to get rid of stuff you don’t love, and feel a lot lighter in the world.
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