A Lesson In Purging

purge (verb) : rid (someone) of an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition, typically giving a sense of cathartic release

I. Love. Purging. I know this sounds really strange. Let me back up and explain where this came from. 

I have never been great at letting go of things. I left college with clothes I had purchased in early high school, when I was definitely a different size.

This fall when I decided to quit my job and go on my road trip to clear my head. I came back and realized, why on earth do I have so many things? So instead of just unpacking I starting throwing copious amounts of things from my closet into my hallway, which then got taken to charity. Now I'm about to move into a smaller studio apartment and I am excited to clear things out and reorganize, and of course donate items to charity.

I know that sizing down can be stressful so here are a couple of things I ask myself when purging:

-  When was the last time I used this? Generally I would say if you haven't used it in the past 4 months, you probably aren't missing it much. If it i summer and you are looking at a coat, try and remember if you used it last winter. Not sure? Add it to the pile!

- Did you even remember you had it? How many times have you found something in a drawer or in the back of your closet and thought "Wow, I forgot I had this!" If you forgot you even owned something, clearly you have been living fine without it.

- How many of this thing do you have? While it's great to own 8 different coats and 5 pairs of sunglasses, it's not necessary. If you have two things that are completely interchangeable, like two black rain jackets, chances are you can pick the better of the two and toss one.

- If it is sentimental, is there a better way to save it? Letters and cards from important people are obviously something that many people like to keep, but having them just floating around on a shelf isn't ideal. Try adding them to a scrapbook or having a specific envelope for these things that you can discreetly add to your bookshelf. You could also scan a copy of it to save electronically or add it to a scrapbook.


Hopefully this gives you a little bit of inspiration to get a jump start on your spring cleaning!