Finally, a break in the weather! It's now officially warm enough outside to be called too warm, which means it is okay to paint. Painting has been the big hold up for the last two weeks of weather limiting factors.
But today, I'm not going to thrill you with talk of painting panels - did your expectations just drop in a disappointed bombshell? Hah! I know, painting the panels is even more boring than talking about them…
No, today I want to talk about yesterday's installment of the leaving it all behind adventure. Clothes. Yesterday I sorted through what was left of all my clothes.
Now, men reading this will be even more bored than a panel painting discussion, but women - YOU will get this!
Clothes are such a part of our lives. I measured the space I will have to fit my clothes into - 24 inches to hang, two shelves to store. Are you kidding? I've got enough socks and underwear to fill up the entire space alone! That is not even beginning the sorting of the many sizes we as women collect over the years or the many occasions that we are required to dress for: work, fancy work, after work, play, cleaning, working out, going out with the girls, going out with a boy, sleeping, lounging, comfort clothing, dog clothing, outside adventure clothing, inside adventure clothing….the list is endless!
And, to make it even more difficult, I've got to plan a four season wardrobe - how do I do that with all my coats taking up more space than the entire back of my truck??? This is going to be hard!
So, to prepare, I began trying on each piece of clothing to decide: take, give away, store, throw away. But I also sorted through those clothes we hold on to that we never wear. You know the dress for the date we never had. The special underwear that were always more trouble than they were worth. The fancy bra's and leggings that sounded good at the time, but were entirely impractical? The super cute outfit I never wore because it might get dirty.
After way too many hours of all of that, what was I left with? Two bags to donate and about 8-plus feet of hanging clothing….clearly this wasn't going well. But, I did try everything on which was a huge beginning! I need to mention that over the years I've given away already most of what I had owned, but I still have held on to too much.
More than the clothes themselves, I realized how many incarnations I've been through. The different jobs, the different moods and styles, the different values. I knew I was getting old when I began to opt for comfortable shoes over style. I knew I was in trouble when I only owned one pair of uncomfortable heels. I knew that life was over when I decided jeans and boots could take me anywhere heels and a skirt could.
I'll have to see how it goes when it is actually time to pack. My plan is to practice with what I have still left out and see what fits the bill - the rest will need to find a new home. It is a different way of looking at life thinking I won't be able to most likely run out and buy what I need - it will be too far away and may be unavailable as our world gets more and more shaken awake with what is coming.
But, it was a good day's work and is just one more necessary step in letting this old world and life go. As an added irony though, I've worn the same outfit for most of the last three weeks every day! I have a painting outfit - all paint, all the time…and wearing one outfit has been really easy, simple, and taken all the guess work out of the day! If only every day could be a painting outfit day….wait, it has been…
Jill
jillelizabeth.net
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