The first month of this year long challenge is done and I feel REALLY good about how I’m doing. I haven’t bought ONE SINGLE piece of clothing! That might not seem like a big deal to everyone but this the longest I’ve gone without buying clothes since becoming an adult.
And let me just say this – not buying clothes has been freeing. Really! I don’t waste time in stores anymore, I don’t worry about what I “need to buy to complete this outfit”, and I don’t have ANY shoppers’ guilt. And I’m sure we can all use less guilt in our lives! I’ve started to get creative with my outfits too. I look through my drawers for hidden treasures and come up with new ways to use them. I have worn my black scarf three times this month with three different outfits AND I wore it three different ways! (Thank you YouTube for teaching me how to wear my scarf.) But not buying clothes hasn’t been the main activity of my life this month. I mean, it’s easy to NOT do something. What’s really difficult is making a change in your life that requires you to actually DO something. So not only am I NOT buying clothes, I am actively decluttering my life of stuff. I’ve been reading a lot of articles on the Minimalist lifestyle and it’s been eye opening. One great online resource is www.becomingminimalist.com. The writer, Joshua Becker, made this really good point – Owning less is great. Wanting less is better. How does a person do that? How do you not only own less but WANT less? I think the “wanting less” comes with time and I’m determined to put the time in. Here’s how Joshua explains it: Because I don’t want to own more than I already have, I am freed from the constant comparing of my stuff to others. I am no longer bound to the incessant pursuit of more money and more stuff. I have found contentment in the things that I own. I have discovered more room for generosity. And I have begun to bend my pursuits towards things that matter. So owning less and wanting less leads to all of that?! Sign me up! An added bonus to writing this blog and moderating a decluttering group on Facebook has been meeting people who also feel this need to simplify and a desire to “bend our pursuits towards things that matter”. It’s refreshing to know that there are other people out there who don’t believe “Bigger is better” and “Whoever dies with the most toys win”. Maybe the question we need to be asking ourselves is if “you can’t take it with you” then why don’t we get rid of it now?
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AuthorMy name is Misty Day (yeah, that really is my name) and I'm a normal every day person. I'm a twin, I work as an analyst, I take my daughter to Girl Scouts and swim team, I play bass guitar in a band, I love food and wine, I like new clothes, and I'm trying to be a better person. Archives
December 2017
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