Fall Cleanup

It happened out of nowhere, this morning I noticed a couple of items of clothing hanging in my closet that I know I never wear and I peeled them off the hangers and folded them on my bed. This began a project of not only sorting out the items I no longer wear, but pulling out the summer items that need to move out of the way, so I am not distracted by them when I am trying to dress. There is nothing worse than attempting to get dressed and being sidetracked by those pesky summer clothes reminding you that you are in the clutches of fall and winter. It is hard to focus on picking the right outfit when you are reminiscing about how warm you were just a few short months ago.

 My little pile of gently used clothing and my big pile of "why the heck do I still hang on to this" began to grow and I could feel myself letting go. "Sure that white jacket is my favorite and it has served me well, but it is showing my love these days and it needs to be tossed. Wait, I love that top, I know it has a large rip down the side, but maybe I could sew it up and get one more summer out of it. Alright, nobody wears gauchos anymore it is time for those to go." Within minutes, I was done purging and I felt relief. All it took was a few short minutes and I had let go of my past fashion sense, making room for new possibilities.

 This has me wondering, if sorting out and letting go of clothes is that easy, why can I not apply the same process to all the items that I hang on to emotionally? Why can't I just purge my feelings about all the issues that keep me up nights? If I just sat down and sorted through what is on my mind and put each worry in its own pile, maybe I would feel the same relief that came from sorting my clothes. I could have a pile called LET IT GO, and another called NEEDS PRAYER and perhaps a pile titled WORK IN PROGRESS. Thinking about it, maybe the main pile should be NEEDS PRAYER and then I could create sub files from there.

While I am bragging about sorting clothes and sorting my life, you should know that in Avery's closet, at the very back I have several outfits from when my girls were babies and toddlers. I have outfits that belonged to each of my girls and I also have a grey and white striped dress that my Mom made for me when I was a toddler. None of these items are needed and I am sure that the odds are slim that they will ever be used again, but I like hanging on to these clothes. Somehow it is a nice reminder of the past.This could also be said for some of my memories, they are also nice. While a few memories are not especially pleasant, most are and together they make up who I am. Maybe if I just sort through the memories a little and give myself permission, I can sift out the worn out and stained memories and make room for some new happier times. Just like with my clothes, it is hard to focus on the present when I keep reaching for the past. It is time to get to work on my fall clean up and let those old worn out memories go.