2020 Decluttering Support and Motivation

[toaster]

Is anyone else finding that the pandemic is creating weird decluttering reflections? For example, I have been working from home since mid-March, and like many others, I rarely go out, so in the past 5-6 months, I've probably worn only 3-4 pairs of shoes total! Now I look at my closet and wonder why I need all those shoes (and clothes, for that matter--and I'm not even much of a clothes horse!), yet I know that when we get back to some kind of "new normal," I'll likely need that stuff again.

[Vantreesta]

Beth, I was in my closet the other day and realized the only thing I miss about working (which I quit long before the pandemic) is wearing my boots, scarves and puffy vests! I still have some nicer clothes that I may wear to church but mostly wore for work, but since I don't know if I'm going to go back to work or not I'm keeping them just in case.

[toaster]

Vantreesta yes! I also miss my jewelry - I wear some at home, but it just seems silly to go to as much effort.

[Vantreesta]

Beth, I don't wear my jewelry either. Necklaces and dangly earrings are too risky with Cyric and wearing all my rings isn't comfortable holding the leash to walk him.

[toaster]

I do put earrings in sometimes. I also like to wear bracelets but they get in the way. And I have some great necklaces but they just don't seem to fit with being home all day!

[Vantreesta]

I do wear earrings but just posts. Generally I only wear dangly ones at Ren Fests and a Halloween anyway.

Digital decluttering: I unsubscribed to Groupon emails and have deleted over 1000 promotional emails in the last few days. See it isn't just tangible stuff I don't get rid of!

[bzar]

if i am videoconferencing, i make sure i look good - make up, nice blouse, necklace. and i make sure i smile a lot!

but yeah, lots of my office clothes is just sitting in the closet. i wore a couple of my outfits to church!

it's ironic you're bringing this up because i was in Macy's yesterday by accident. i found a beautiful office-type dress and 2 sweaters (going to exchange one of them and return the other one). Macy's is really hungry for sales - the dress was in the "just arrived" section (as opposed to the marked down section) and i got it for less than 50% off ($29 net cost). come to find out, it was a one-day sale. same with the 2 sweaters.

i had conflicting thoughts:
1) i'm not wearing any office clothes right now
2) i should support this store and the economy
3) the price was awesome!
4) the dress fit me well once i took it home to try it on (all dressing rooms were closed)
5) my house is loaded with my clutter, including clothes!
6) i bought 3 dresses in January that i haven't worn yet. :b

i have this story to tell. really made me reflect on my blessings and kindness from strangers. i saw a large lot of fitness DVDs on craigslist. of the entire lot, 4 interested me, but the seller wanted to only sell the entire lot. we had exchanged emails back and forth.

i mentioned i belonged to VF and would ask around if anyone was interested in buying a bulk lot. he seemed to feel comfortable enough to disclose that the collection belonged to his late wife who was a fitness enthusiast. there were 4-5 Beachbody sets, all of the Firm classics on DVD, Fluidity, Winsor pilates set, bosu DVDs, etc. i found someone on VF to share this bulk purchase with, and without making any sort of offer (his original price was extremely fair and reasonable), he lowered it by $25.

along the way, i kept mentioning my condolences, especially during this challenging time. it was painful for this person to find a home for these items.

the takeaways for me were - he was happy to find a good home for these items. how sad that i have so much abundance that i continue to shop for DVDs - but yet i helped this person. i was also lucky that i belong to VF and have friends on this board who are willing to help with this unusual situation. also, i really need to cut my collection down because someday, my loved ones will be the ones to find homes for my belongings. i'm sorry for these thoughts.

[fanofladyvols]

Jeannine what an interesting story. Makes you wonder if she was a VFer. I bet she'd be glad to know they went to loving homes.
No Craigslist sale will happen here. There will be a Goodwill and a thrift store (that works with the homeless) that benefit from my well loved collection. I'm good with that.

Re: videoconferencing I'm tired of looking at the screen for one hour +. Whenever I was in real meetings, I didn't stare at everyone, even if they were speaking. I don't even hold a gaze that long with my loved ones

[toaster]

Jeannine, thanks for sharing! Sometimes when I can't decide whether or not to donate an item to Goodwill, I think about the idea of how it could make someone else happy.

I definitely make an effort to look nicer when I have Zoom meetings (and soon I'll be doing teletherapy, too!). Still, it's really just doing my hair and makeup (which I usually do regardless, although pretty minimal) and wearing a nice top. I will wear earrings and a necklace on occasion, although I still keep it minimal.

RE eye contact on Zoom, it can feel like you are staring at people! I find multi-user Zoom calls even more challenging though--it's natural to want to look at the person who is talking, but that looks weird to other people because then your eyes are off to the side rather than looking at your camera. (sigh)

[Izzy]

I have a very small and not storage friendly kitchen. Two weeks ago while we were in a heat wave I tackled my kitchen, again. I think I did it in March?? Anyway, I had 3 boxes of stuff for Goodwill and freed up some space. But I realized, living alone I really don't need this stuff so I will probably go back and purge some more.

Anyway, it left me a good feeling because I know someone will get good use of these kitchen items.