The 1 Minimalist Mantra That Helped Me Finally Clean Out My Closet
The mindset that rescued me from unfulfilling consumerism
Ever since I discovered minimalism, I haven’t been very good at it. I mean, I’ve been pretty bad. I’m so bad, that even my mom makes comments when I’m home from school about how I keep accumulating stuff.
Part of this is because of all of the shopping trips my grandmother splurged on as I was growing up, which is also why I have more books than I know what to do with.
“Simplicity is an acquired taste.” Katharine Fullerton Gerould
When you have people so readily available to give you more things, it’s hard to get rid of other things at a similar rate to maintain a minimalist equilibrium. So, how do you convince yourself to get rid of things?
And it’s just like the above quote says, it’s an acquired taste.
Oftentimes you have to train yourself to appreciate the simplicity in a world that’s constantly telling us we want more.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucious
I’ve tried a lot of things. I’ve tried a capsule wardrobe, putting things in boxes until I need them, and just blindly getting rid of clothes and hoping I don’t mix them.
However, I finally figured out how to overcome all of my psychological attachment to clothes and my guilt over worthwhile items.
It comes in two parts.
The first part is donating clothes somewhere I know they’ll get used by someone who needs them.
There’s a nonprofit in Auburn that I work closely with that provides a clothing closet for children in foster care. I know that so many foster teens could benefit from my gently used clothes, much more than I do from them wasting away in my closet.
This makes it easier to get rid of stuff – and makes me feel better about the money that’s been spent on my wardrobe.
The second part is where my new mantra comes in:
“Make room for better.”
It’s simple but ridiculously effective.
“Make room for better.” These are the words I have to remind myself of the truth when I’m stuck trying to downsize my belongings.
This mantra helps me to realize that what I have is good.
There is a reason I’ve kept that one sweatshirt or pair of shorts all of these years. However, is there something that could better take its place?
In The Minimalists documentary, Joshua Fields Milburn talks about how he would rather have one really good sweatshirt than several of less satisfactory hoodies.
That principle has helped me a lot in my minimalism journey — and several wise clothing purchases through the years have proved this true.
Clothing really is all about quality over quantity.
I’d rather have one good pair of tennis shoes, one really good pair of pajama pants, and a few really great pair of socks than dozens of uncomfortable, ill-fitting, and less than my favorite versions of those things.
“Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants.” — Epictetus
At the end of the day, it makes more sense to save up or stay on the search for longer for “the perfect thing” than to buy several haphazard lower-value items that won’t bring you the same kind of satisfaction.
Make room for better.
You can only wear so many clothes every day anyways, and hold mental and physical storage space for so much.
As you’re getting rid of the many times that you don’t enjoy wearing or never bring out of the back of your drawer, just think of what you’re making literal room for in your life.
Not to mention, you aren’t wearing the clothes you don’t like – so why not get rid of them?
Recently I bought a new jacket with some birthday money.
It’s my favorite color, my favorite style, and really high quality.
“Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.” — Hosea Ballou
Because I didn’t waste my money buying lesser versions and waited out the right find at the back of REI, I was able to make the best decision possible.
Now, it’s a shining beacon in my closet of what I love and want to wear this winter — and I don’t feel any need to buy any more jackets.
I found what made me happy — and made room for it in my closet and in my budget, after some careful planning and mindful decision-making.
Why? Because I made room for better.
Best of luck cleaning out your own closet!
