I know in my world I do better than most. I am comfortable in a small apartment with my spouse with a room for him and one for me and a community space for all. When we moved to this new place I was so excited to have more “space.” While space for each other to have our area of the home was important, I ever knew how much until COVID.
The irony is we moved in here in January of 2020 and COVID hit hard in February. Divine timing I would say. Within one month he was working from home. Luckily, now we each had our rooms to be able to do that. In the next few months, our home kept changing.
First, his room was created more for living life in a bedroom, as needed from time to tie with his desk in there so he could play video games. Then after a few rearrangements, it became his office, his bedroom, and his sacred space.
My room started out as where I would sleep, watch tv with what many men call “My dumb shows” as not to disturb him. AS we were both confined to our home we both found ways to make our rooms more like we desired for the unknown future as we would be confined to these spaces a lot longer than we planned.
A huge part of that for me became my closet.
I used to follow Project 333 and did pretty good for awhile keeping minimal clothes in there. With the new space, I bought up all my clothes so they were accessible and not in bins or boxes. This forced me to see, I had many clothes that I never wore and many of those clothes because masks for others as I cut up dresses, leggings, shorts, and shirts to make masks for others to help fight COVID bringing my fashion business and sewing skills back to life after Cancer.
Like many, we got into the buying bug and brought things around our home to make us feel more comfortable if we were going to be staying in. For me, part of that meant clothes. My formal clothes were of no use to me, as I was not going anywhere. MY fashion clothes seemed pointless since no one was really going to see me, with the exception of Zoom, waist up.
In No Sidebar, she states ”
Because owning something? It’s about commitment.
It’s not only about spending the money to buy it. After that, it has to be maintained so you can keep using it. That means storing, dusting, washing, folding, and so on. And when it’s worn, it has to be fixed too.”
I agree.
Little by little my closet started getting rearranged and I found myself putting more and more clothes in bins. I because used to and enjoyed the idea of only have a few choices to select from. It made it easier and streamlined getting dressed in the morning and for the day. Now, with the world starting to open back up, we have ventured out a tad bit more. I am immunocompromised so I am very cautious about where I go and who with if anyone other than my spouse.
One collection I do have now is a whole new set of masks. Masks of all kinds and types with many different patterns and colors. A joke I have seen often on the internet is “the last thing we need as women is another thing we have to match with our outfit.”
Since having cancer two times, I was a constant mask wearer BEFORE all this happened and already decided that mismatched prints to my clothes can be fun. Matching is cute, but masks can do more than just protect. Add iron-on, sequins, lace to your masks, have fun with them. How many masks are too many, is now my question. My answer…you can never have too many because some will break down, some will tear, some will lose their firmness and you want a rotation anyway. Don’t go getting an armoire to put them in or anything, but do make sure you have some you like to interchange and some neutrals for any day.
I haven’t finished purging my closet just yet, as it is a work in progress. I still ask myself, will I need this AFTER COVID? The answer is most often, “unsure.” I am creating an “I haven’t worn that in years bag to donate to those in need as well as creating an “After COVID” bin of any clothes I might want to resurrect later.
I also have created a bin of things around my house I don’t need or use anymore.
My ideal world and happy place for me, would live on a plot of land, in my yurt or renovated bus, homestead and be self-sustainable, live off the land, and only buy what is extremely necessary from stores if that. That would mean much of what I have in my home would not be needed, so I might as well start downsizing now. I don’t think that kind of future is that far away.
You start thinking about what is REALLY important to you.
Our importance list, is each other, our cats, and peace in our lives.
You think about what do I really need?
How can we make the life we desire happen?
My spouse is excited about Starlink, as am I, where we could get internet anywhere in the world and he could still work until we are ready to fully retire. I am 50 and he is turning 40 this year. I see this in the near future and thus I feel I need to really look around my house and rethink what do I really NEED to survive.
While I understand for some, you might think you need something bigger, more things, etc. For me, it has done the opposite and made me think how many have told me, they were maybe 10 clothes out of their closet. They don’t drive anywhere, they bike or walk (we do also) They cook at home more, less fast food or restaurants, and less socializing if any at all.
COVID has woken me back up to the idea of minimalism and I am excited to see the outcome of how my continual decluttering, downsizing, and removing unnecessary things from my home, has and will bring peace to my home and my heart. ❤
No Sidebar also said on her importance list is:
A life where my stuff enriched my every day instead of crowding me out of my own home.
A life that was intentional.
Exactly.
A life that is intentional.
Thank you Covid for helping see a blessing in disguise to start living a life in full view! ❤
TrishaTrixie™ Sprinkler of Fabulousness 