I unknowingly broke a rule on day 1. I wore earrings. I was sidetracked in the morning by the all-important decision of which pair of scrubs would carry me through the entire month of May. I chose the black ones {in case you were wondering}, because my blue ones weren’t clean…. my life is so intriguing, I truly do live on the edge.
Yesterday (day 2) I wore my running shorts and gray shirt with tennis shoes while I worked in the community garden with a friend. It was soggy and sweaty. When I came home I was able to change into my skinny jeans, white shirt, and flip flops which I also wore out to dinner for my mother-in-law’s birthday in the evening. I toughed it out through dinner, and again this morning when I was outside at 6:30am setting up for a yard sale with my neighbor. It was pretty chilly and, had my mother seen me, I’m sure she would have insisted that I put a coat on. She wasn’t there to tell me about my poor choice in clothing, but I have received several comments from other ‘mamas’ regarding my lack of coat options amongst my 7 items. I was seriously contemplating tossing the ‘formal dress’ out of spot #6 to make space for a sweater or jacket of some sort. I should have planned for that a little better, knowing my tendency to be in a constant state of near hypothermia. However, I feel strongly that the purpose of this project is to a) identify those areas in which we live in excess, b) attempt to pare down in those areas, and c) learn that it is possible to survive with less. If I give in at the slightest notion of discomfort then it’s apparent I haven’t learned those lessons very well. So I will work on handling a little chilly weather.
Today I helped my neighbor with a yard sale and worked a little bit in the garden {dressed in my gray t-shirt, running shorts, and now extremely muddy tennis shoes}. After that we came home and I put on my jeans and white shirt, no surprise there, and headed over to my in-laws. Charlotte spent the afternoon with her Lola and Grandpa while Chris and I went to test drive some cars. We are searching for a little more cargo and carseat space and Chris’ truck is just not giving us the flexibility be are needing.
My birthday is tomorrow. no big. I actually forgot it was my birthday until I walked into work on thursday and my coworkers had decorated my office. they are awesome like that. My sweet sister-in-law gave my my gift tonight – the most beautiful scarf and gold-mint bracelet.
Of course, they are accessories. Which I have sworn off wearing for the month. dagger! They are so beautiful it is killing me to not wear them. I did put the bracelet on for approximately 30 seconds, you know, to make sure it fit and matches my skin tone. It did, and it does. Only 27 more days until I can show them off {humbly, of course, and in as non-excessive way as possible}.
Are you joining me this month? I’d love to hear the 7 pieces of clothing you have chosen!
Month 3: Clothing
Did you know it is now May? I am just as surprised as you are. This whole ‘time passing by’ thing is getting really old. Enough already. When I said I was going to take a month off of my project in self-reduction I truly believed the next month would be slower in arriving. April just zoomed on by, and here we are: hello May! If you are just tuning in, I have embarked on a personal journey to combat excess in imitation of Jen Hatmaker’s book ‘7: an experimental mutiny against excess’. During the first 3 months I focused on reducing my possessions and spending. This month I will be tackling clothing. You may remember that in Month 1 I purged nearly half the contents of my closets and drawers, counting those as possessions right along with everything else in my house. I got rid of a ridiculous amount of clothing. and guess what? There’s still a lot of clothing floating around in there that I am certain I don’t actually wear. I am not a big spender when it comes to clothing{or anything, really}; one of the earliest lessons I learned from my mom was how to spot steal at a thrift store. That being said, the sheer number of garments in my closet is ridiculous. Frankly, my wardrobe could easily outfit 4 or 5 women comfortably. Can we say excessive?! In order to combat the american mentality of see it – buy it {which is how I got into this predicament in the first place}, I will wear only 7 pieces of clothing this month. I know, I’m sort of shocked at the prospect as well. Let’s figure out the guidelines.
Before I started to carefully select my 7 precious articles of clothing, I took a peek into my drawers and closets to see what I had to work with:
223 pieces of clothing
37 pairs of shoes/sandals/boots
12 pairs of scrubs
I know. I was shocked too. I don’t have any scientific proof, but I’m pretty sure my clothes and shoes have been multiplying in my closet when I close the door. Your’s too? ok, glad I’m not the only one. I was secretly hoping my collection would come up shorter than Jen’s. and it did…. winning! As I was re-reading Jen’s chapter on clothing, she reported that she had 327 pieces of clothing in her closet. My greed and lust over clothing is not as severe as Jen Hatmaker’s or, say, a Kardashian’s…. I’m certain there’s a crown waiting for me in heaven for that accomplishment alone.
Here are the 7 pieces I have chosen:
1) Dark wash skinny jeans {I pretty much wear these every day anyway, no shame}
2) aqua running shorts
3) Grey V-neck short sleeve shirt
4) Flowy white sleeveless shirt
5) Navy blue black scrub set {when I got up today…day 1…. to get dressed for work I realized the blue scrub set I had previously chosen to be the work attire that would carry me through this month was in the wash, so I had to settle for my second choice}
6) A formal dress – TBD – I don’t know which one in my closet I will wear yet, but we have 2 weddings to attend towards the end of the month and I don’t want to wear sneakers and running shorts on my friends’ big days {though the sneakers would give me a distinct advantage for dancing, with the added traction and all…. in light of this discovery, I actually may rethink the formal dress}.
7) Shoes count as one item together but I will only alternate between 2 pairs: brown flip-flops and black sneakers.
Here are a few more details:
- Undergarments don’t count. just…. no.
- No jewelry {not even earrings, I will wear my wedding band… because it’s my experiment. I do what I want}
- No accessories {no scarves, no belts…. no pizzaz}
- No coat, no rain boots
Day 1:
Black scrubs, black tennis shoes. I did wear a headband, but not for pizzaz. It is a necessity to keep my frizz in check while at work. I do it for the kids.
I am really fortunate in that I only work 2 days a week, so wearing 1 pair of scrubs is totally do-able. I doubt anyone will even notice. My patients certainly won’t – I get excited when they simply notice the presence of a person in the room; I’m pretty sure they don’t care what I wear, they just want me to get out of their face!
Will you join me this month? If at the very least, will you count the number of clothing items and shoes in your closet? Just throwing off the blindfold and refusing naiveté of our excessive tendencies is a great first step.
I’m just sayin’.
Empathy vs. Sympathy
A friend recently shared this video with me and I am so thankful that she did. It’s short and will take 2 minutes of your day, but I hope the take-away will stay with you longer. The narrator, very simply, discusses the difference between sympathy and empathy and why empathy has a ‘healing’ super power as well as the ability to form relationships, while sympathy drives a wedge between relationships. You probably know the definitions of both, but take a moment to watch this and engage in some introspection – do you use each appropriately?
I’m definitely guilty of saying “at least….”
I’m sorry to my friends who needed empathy and I quickly dished out sympathy. I didn’t know!
And I’m certain I’m not the only person who has unknowingly hurt someone’s feelings or who has attempted to rush in with a ‘solution’ to help a hurting friend. In reality, all they needed from me was my patience, my listening ear, and my presence saying ‘me too’ or; if I can’t say ‘me too’, then simple silence.
Boo to winter!
There are many reasons why winter is the yuckiest of all the seasons. I won’t dive into all of them right now {we all know the depths of its yuckiness anyway}; Instead, i’ll just continue to intimidate the weather with this chant and hopefully coax out more sunny, warm weather – “Heck no, stop that snow!”
In order to remain positive and uplifting I will skip over all the things I hate about cold weather and, instead, explain to you all of the wonderful things about warm weather {since you’ve been dying to know}.
1. I no longer have to take Charlotte’s big puffy coat off before buckling her into her carseat. Such a time waster {though a necessity – read what The Carseat Lady, along with other researchers, have to say about it}. It is just really annoying to put a coat on, walk to the car, take the coat off, buckle her in, lay the coat over top, drive, unbuckle, coat back on, etc. Most of the time I would just drape the coat over her like a blanket instead of putting it on her for the short walk to the car. I can’t imagine doing that with more than 1 child.
2. I’ve missed seeing Charlotte’s rolls. She has very few, but the few she does sport have been hidden under bulky winter clothes for too long. I am excited to see them and to be able to smooch on them whenever I want, since she is becoming less and less babyish evert month! Here she is at the end of summer last year; I can’t get enough of those baby rompers… they will probably be her stable garment this summer if I can get my hands on some.
3. The beach. That’s pretty self explanatory. The beach, and waves, and sun.
4. Grilling out. Yes you can use a grill in winter, but who really wants to?!
5. Not scraping frost/snow/sleet off your car in the morning or spending the first few minutes of your drive like a popsicle. First world problem, I know, but something I dread all winter long.
6. Being able to spend all day outside. We definitely have cabin fever here in the Baker home. I’ve exhausted my “how to entertain a toddler” links on Pinterest, from pompom sorting to a DIY ball pit… so I’m ready to just be able to let her run outside and explore!
What are you looking forward to this summer?