I am a self-confessed impulse shopper. I love to shop. Clothing and shoes are two of my vices. I often go to the shops, just to have a look, with no intention of buying and walk out with an arm full of bags.
Granted, I know how to find a bargain and if it’s on sale, I reckon I have made money. Surely that’s justifiable. So we are preparing for a bathroom renovation and as the ensuite off our bedroom is on the other side of a walk in robe, we need to move all our clothing out of the walk in, into the spare room for the duration of the renovation. This is one hell of a task.
You see, my walk-in wardrobe is shared with my partner. He gets a little bit of hanging space and the top of the wardrobe for his folded clothing, and this is a man who also loves his clothes. So we both have a lot of clothes. Now this is my primary wardrobe. My secondary wardrobe is in the office, alongside two rather large free standing wardrobes which I purchased for the overflow. I needed the overflow after I filled up the wardrobe in the second bedroom. Then there’s the dreaded ironing basket. I admit, I enjoy ironing less than I enjoy culling, and my excuse is that if I ironed everything in the basket, I’d have nowhere to put it because the wardrobes are full.
As I sit and write this I think to myself, my lord woman, you have a problem.
Now with all addictions they say, admitting it is the first step, but for me it’s the first and last step as I don’t seem to be able to part with anything, which would be fine if I was prepared to stop shopping.
As we begun moving our clothes from the walk-in wardrobe, into the spare room to prepare the reno, the pressure started to mount. My partner started reinforcing how important it was to cull. This has been one of those issues that has been brought up many times in the past. He has even asked his sister, who is great at culling, to come over and help me out, which at the time was met with a surge of anxiety and a ‘no no, I can do it myself’ response which was followed with a sigh of relief when they said they actually believed me.
So here is my battle. When deciding to cull I have heard of many different strategies. My sister in law to be sells a lot of her clothing online. I see that as a great option if you can bring yourself to part with things. Then there’s people that say “If you haven’t worn it in 12 months, throw it out”. My answer to that is “Are you kidding? Fashion is cyclical.” I have items of clothing that I have not worn in two years and I may have only worn them once or twice as they are a statement piece, or they are ideal for a certain occasion. If they still fit and look new and fashionable, why would you throw them out, sell them or give them away?
Let me just establish something – I did manage to do a big cull about four months ago (ok maybe six) and filled up at least four big garbage bags of clothing that I decided I was OK parting with. The issue here is, those bags are now sitting in the boot of my car ready to go to a charity. They are still there – so while I managed to bring myself to pack them into bags, I haven’t been able to bring myself to remove them from my life completely.
Now when I sit back and think about my attachment to clothing I can see how ridiculous it is to feel this attached to material belongings. From a metaphysical perspective I get that having an emotional attachment to material possessions is often associated with fear of some sort. What emotional need am I trying to satisfy when it comes to this attachment? But the real answer is, I really just love my clothes. So while I am trying to dig deep and search for the emotional, metaphysical reason behind this strong attachment I am going to put the call out to everyone who reads this – give me your tips. Please share them of Facebook or Instagram or via private message – I want to know how you manage to detach from your personal belongings, cull and de-clutter. I welcome all your advice.
Thank in advance from one very troubled but well-dressed hoarder.
