The Art of Purging
What if it doesn’t “spark joy”?
For the longest time, I’d had my share of collecting items that no one cared about. It didn’t come from a place of “what if I need this?”, but as a creative person, I’d want to repurpose, reuse & upcycle a piece of clothing or a broken mirror rather than trashing into a waste pile. I knew it could turn into something so beautiful that I’d break my heart to even donate it sometimes.
But a bunch of things happened —
a. Since motherhood, I’d rarely have the time and opportunity to look at my current wardrobe, leave aside the ones that don’t fit me anymore
b. I genuinely felt compassionate enough to actually enjoy the very act of donating my priced possessions
I began the process of purging slowly but steadily in life. And today, I feel fairly confident in living an almost decluttered life. There are a few areas that still need work, but aren’t we all work in progress?
But, this art of living a decluttered life did not come naturally. I worked mercilessly towards it and today, I share with you step-by-step analysis of how I introduced & learnt it-
1.Be willing-
Talk about it, be excited for it, schedule it.
If you feel, say your wardrobe has too many clothes, just talking about cleaning it wouldn’t clean it. In order to take a baby step, schedule time in the calendar to actually do this task of cleaning up the wardrobe. As simple as it sounds, most people flake off here. Sometimes, one falls prey to demons like procrastination, “lack of time”, forgetfulness, and you name it. Just having the will is enough for scheduling time over a free weekend to begin the act. Now, the tougher bit is, if plans drop in. Well, if they do, prioritise. And while one prioritises, also don’t forget to imagine once in a while how mess-free the wardrobe will look incase one ends up actually spending those couple of hours actually doing the act.
2. Be a little practical-
Was this really here all this while?
Now that one is past the hurdle of getting to the act of decluttering, let’s continue over the example of wardrobe. Few of the items will be easy to chuck (as they might be the stimuli to the very process), but a few others might be tough to narrow down to the trash bin. During this mental fight, what has worked for me is to be a bit more practical than just asking “Does this spark joy?”. That’s probably because a lot of things might spark joy for me emotionally, but are they really worth the space, physical and mental, if they’re probably never going to be picked to be worn? Are they paying that much rent to stay in my closet?
3. Know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel-
Somewhere during this struggle of keeping and letting go, know that there’s an end to this.
If you need breaks, take a breather- eat, drink, walk, have a chat, but come back to it.
4. Maintain-
This is the toughest part, and it comes with a bit of practice and nuanced lifestyle choices.
To cleanup and visually enjoy a cleaner space generally probes one to go ahead and splurge on buying more, but one shall chose at that point what lifestyle they are ready to live and maintain. Is it better for them to constantly buy and purge? Or is it a slower, more spaced out,better thought of purchases that they really require to sustain? Tools such as capsule wardrobes and organising gadgets— might come in handy to read about. In case you’re interested, my wardrobe doesn’t at all look like capsule, but I’m slowly working towards building something alike that I know would work for me. That’s the lifestyle choice I’ve made as I choose not to donate 70% of my clothes and have nothing to wear the next day.
Also, I always have a bag lying in close vicinity and reach where anything that’s not “worth it’s rent” gets dumped. The protocol is shared amongst everyone in the family and when it gets filled up, it’s time to donate. Sounds simple, but is totally worth a try.
The physical dumping of the article is more freeing than the mental dumping, because it’s done with once and for all rather than looking at the article every day and thinking “Oh this needs to go!”
5. Materialistic Insights-
Is it just the wardrobe or kitchen that needs the purging?
Somewhere along this almost 2 year old journey, one wonders what else is it that needs purging? Are you surrounded by cluttered acquaintance-like people or a few quality ones? What do your responsibilities at work look like? Do you deserve and desire the moments your day brings to you? What would you like to eliminate?
Also, as we come close to the end of the year, it probably brings a lot of joy to shower our loved ones with gifts, but also take a moment to be reminiscent of their likes and dislikes and what their journey is. This might bring some time and opportunity to look at one’s own lifestyle and choices of the material nature.
I’m eager to know How you’ve brought letting go in your day-to-day life. Has it bettered your vision of life like mine?
Hoping my little journey of purging and style of practice brought a new perspective to you.
Until next time, happy reading!
