A Little Zen: Thinning Out the Closet

My wife and I, both recently hitting the big 4-0, have committed to de-cluttering as much of our lives as possible.

And yes, this is my 6th consecutive blog and 10th in last 11 weekdays. Thanks for noticing! It’s all part of the plan to get myself in shape and in gear, physically and mentally!!

De-cluttering is part of that mission.

This weekend my wife plowed through our master closet and literally got rid of 150 pounds worth of clothes. It’s amazing to think how much stuff we accumulate in our closets. I am going to work off her inspired quest and get rid of a few things myself.

I don’t know that women are like this, but most guys I know use their closets as a catch all for all sorts of crap. Not just clothes. Books, DVDs, single shoe laces with no mate. Stuff like that. Anything and everything.

Well, I can’t claim to have gotten rid of quite as much as my wife did. But I am putting a dent in our clutter.

And it’s nice to have found clothes that HAD been taking up dead space in the closet that I can NOW wear due to my recent 40 pound weight loss.

Funny enough, now it’s the “fat pants” that are going to Goodwill instead of the thinner pants I had almost given up on ever wearing again.

I took loads of stuff to Goodwill over the last few days. Including bicycles the kids outgrew but were still cluttering the garage along with the newest models.

It feels good to do it. Call it Spring Cleaning a bit early.

Getting rid of certain things that you mentally have attached with not so great memories is also a very therapeutic thing to do. Maybe it’s a shirt you’ve been wearing since a previous relationship. Could be the suit you were wearing when you got fired and you hated it to begin with. Maybe it’s a color that doesn’t suit you anymore or makes you blue instead of happy.

I love finding a little Zen anywhere I can these days.

The closet is a great–though initially intimidating–place to find it.