Getting Rid of all the Excess Junk

By Janel Pfluger

It’s that time of year. Time for the big purge, or the purge before the binge, as I like to think of it. Soon I will be gorging myself on turkey and all the trimmings, and giving my credit cards a workout in attempt to find just the right Christmas gift for my loved ones. But before I indulge it’s time to pare my life down a little. Over the course of a year, I seem to accumulate a lot of “stuff.” My stuff starts to overwhelm me a bit as I try to find places to put it all. When I start to feel anxiety over where I should put all this stuff, I know it’s time to get rid of some of it.

That Time Of The Year

It begins with clothes. Every year, when it is time to put away the summer digs (sigh) and take out the winter gear, I make a point of carefully pruning my wardrobe. If I haven’t worn it for a year, or forgot I even owned it, chances are I don’t love it. In the donation pile it goes. Now for me, this can get hairy. What about that sweater that my aunt gave me for last Christmas? I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t like it, and she never includes a gift receipt, but can I really get rid of clothes that still have the tags on them? The answer is yes, yes I can. All it is doing in my closet is taking up space, when it could be keeping someone warm.

Learning To Let Go

But then what about the pair of jeans that I absolutely love, but have a huge hole in the butt. A huge, non-sewable, not looking like the ripped-on-purpose-jeans, kind of hole. Do I have to get rid of them? Yup, I do. They aren’t doing my back end any favors. Into the trash pile.

Okay, now here’s the hard part that every self respecting lady (and some of you guys too) must learn to do. See that dress (or shirt/pants) that is two sizes smaller than your current size? The one that made you look like a movie star when you were thin enough to wear it? Gently pluck it from your closet of clothes you can actually fit into and drop it into the donation pile. Time to let some other hottie look like a movie star. Eh-eh, no second thoughts. Put it back down. Think of it this way, if you ever do lose weight and get back to that size, you can reward yourself by going shopping for a new favorite dress. Repeat this process with all the other clothes in your wardrobe that do not fit you anymore. Well, okay, you can keep one thing, your skinny jeans. But just for motivation. And only if you really have to, I mean don’t you look pretty fabulous just the way you are?

Room For The New

Now when this is all done, my closet will only consist of the clothes that I actually wear, like, and look good on me. There will be room in it for gifts I may get for Christmas, and for the occasional new item. When I am done bagging up the clothes that I will take to Good Will, I feel satisfied and relieved (once that dress is out of my sight). My closet is neat and organized and I can feel good about donating some decent clothing to charity.

Seeking Out The Junk

Then it’s on to the other stuff: the junk drawer, the bookshelf, the filing cabinet, my drawer full of cosmetics and hair and skin care products. The general rule is if I don’t use it or I don’t need it (in the true sense of the word need), then I get rid of it. Of course there are exceptions. There are pictures that I don’t look at often, but I treasure and do not want to part with. There are back issues of magazines that I haven’t gotten to yet, but will. There are some exceptions I will allow myself, but not many. It’s amazing how freeing it feels to do this every year. Because the truth is, I really don’t need all these things to be happy. In fact, very few of them really make me happy.

The Calm of Clean

After I have gotten rid of all the things that were just taking up space, I feel calmer. When I look around my home, all of the things that are left are things that I truly want, not things that I just have. Of course, it won’t stay this way. Over the course of the next year, I will accumulate more stuff that I don’t need and find myself doing the same thing again next year. But such is life; it’s cyclical. And there are much worse problems to be had.

Janel Pfluger is a writer, career coach, college instructor, and bartender, among other things. She is looking forward to receiving a Master of Arts in English degree in January of 2010, and finally being able to read whatever she wants. Janel enjoys reading, writing, the beach, photography, travel, family, good friends, good beer, good times. She has a passion for words, but cannot stand the words: moist, slacks (as in trousers), and panties. She also thinks everyone should go skydiving at least once in their lives.