Every autumn, I switch my clothes over from summer to winter, and in the spring, I do the opposite. Each time I make the switchover, I put things away neatly, but my closet is a total mess by the end of the season.
I pulled out one bin the other day, searching for a pair of capris, and couldn’t find them. I rifled through the other five bins and still couldn’t find them. Everything I wear is black, and I can never find shit.
It’s raining and cold outside, so it’s the perfect day to make the switch. As I start going through the bins, I talk to myself out loud. “What in God’s earth is this thing?” “What in the fuck is that?” “Oh, that’s where that went!” “Well, son of a gun!”
Back in October, when I took a break from belly dance out of anger and frustration with the whole covid thing, I cleaned my closet. Besides the regular switch over, I threw all my belly dance practice wear, hip shawls, coin belts, costuming, jewelry, and stage makeup into 4 large bins.
I was like a crazy person when I went to the store to buy the large bins. I was so pissed off that day with the situation this was my way of putting it to the side.
One conversation I had on the phone with Kathleen, my co-teacher and dance partner, asked me how I was doing. I don’t know what I said, but she asked me if I burned all of my belly dance stuff. She was relieved when I laughed and said it was packed away. She knows me well. LOL
When I am done with something that was a hard situation or something I learned a life lesson from, I burn or bury it. Getting rid of the negative energy coming from the items helps me release whatever needs to go.
Ok…I am not a pyromaniac in any sense of the word, but burning shit is like a ritual to me. I get rid of items that someone who turned out to be a toxic friend gave me, photos, articles of clothing, and trinkets. I haven’t had to do a burning ritual for 3 years, so that’s good news.
As I sort through my clothing and accessories, things are a mess! Remember this…never put things away when you are mad, believe me. I am trying to sort things out then putting them in piles of love it, meh, hate it, and what in the hell was I thinking? There is also a pile of garbage or donate items.
This year, as I went through things, I realized that I didn’t wear more than 2/3 of my wardrobe because of covid. I won’t be as hasty getting rid of things because I haven’t worn them for such a long time.
I found a box of super cute sundresses that I realized I didn’t wear any of last summer. I remember thinking, why dress cute while I am wearing this ridiculous mask. I certainly didn’t feel cute, so I dressed meh.
Now that I’ve gone through everything, I got out my belly dance practice wear and some hip shawls. I am going back to teach belly dance on April 28 and want to have things ready. I reorganized everything, my garbage pile was small, and I had nothing to donate. I created a wait-and-see box for next year. If I don’t like the stuff then, it will be gone like the wind.
It took me about 4 hours to make the switch over, and I am so glad it’s done. There will probably be snow in the forecast in the next few days, it happens every year, and in the fall, we get Indian summer. 😜
