I have a birthday soon (a big one) and I was sent a generous gift card to Amazon by my parents. I'm glad I have some time to spend it, because I can't, at the moment, think of anything I need. Heck, I can't even think of anything I want, really, except a job and some security and stability for my family....
On another note, how many baseball caps, brimmed hats, winter hats, scarves and gloves does a three-person family need? I went through the drawers that hold our hats, scarves, etc. We have 14 baseball caps, 7 brimmed hats, 14 scarves, 10 knitted winter hats and at least 6 pairs of gloves/mittens. I may even be underestimating here. I certainly think this is one area of our life we can minimize...
What's your minimum for winter/summer head, neck and hand wear?
hey megan - it was great to pop over to your blog just now and read that there are updates. hooray! i'm also sort of updating mine as i go along in life here.
ReplyDeleteone theory on minimalism, with regards to clothes, is to give yourself a given amount of space. for example, one box or 20 hangers or something.
if you have one box for all your hats/mittens/scarfs, and they fit, then great. but once they start to not fit, you have to get rid of something to make them fit.
similarly, if you have 20 things hung on hangers and you get a new shirt, you go through your things on hangers and decide which thing you have that you like least and get rid of that. i knew someone in college who operated that way. kept everything sized just right for a college dorm.
me personally, i have all my winter clothes stored in an old backpack and it's brimming too full, so i know it's time to purge a few things. i'm with you on the "don't want to get rid of something i'll need" front. i have 3 sets of mittens - one for really cold days, one fleece pair, and one knit pair that i got in college and love. do i need them all? i live in a rainy climate that doesn't really require mittens unless the heat goes out, as none of them are waterproof. for bike riding i wear my ski gloves that are semi waterproof but really warm. so do i get rid of the mittens? what if i move to a cold climate again? i'm not specifically attached to the heavy ones or the fleece ones, but they are quality pieces of clothing; i could use them for driving maybe.
i have a few hats: a thin fleece one that goes great under my bike helmet when it's cool but not freezing and i'm going to be doing some athletic biking, a thicker wool one with fleece lining and ear flaps that i love, a goofy fleece one that is great for costumes or being silly, one knit one that my mom made that is cute (and cotton), and a few knit ones i'm not crazy about but someone gave them to me so what do i do with them? probably i should give up the knit ones first because often they make me itchy, even when they're not wool.
i have several baseball caps and one big floppy hat for fieldwork. i could definitely get rid of a few of the baseball caps as they are teams i don't care about anymore or the hats are old/worn out/too dirty to clean/broken. but there is sentiment attached.
someone told me one way to remember things that you were given but don't want anymore is to take a picture of them. a digital picture takes up no actual space, and even if you print it and make a scrapbook of "clothes i had but got rid of", you can remember the items but not have to have them.
anyway i see your dilemma and will enjoy interacting with you as to what to do about having "things". i look forward to our future discussions!