Less is Enough

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I stood in front of my closet in absolute disgust.

I had nothing to wear.

We were right on the cusp of summer, but in true Texas from, my winter clothes had been packed away for weeks.

So I couldn’t’ complain that nothing was in season.

Nope. I was there, searching a closet that was stuffed to the brim with viable options and feeling like I was lacking.

There was something severely wrong.

On a whim, I considered downsizing to 50 items of clothes. And then I swept that ridiculous notion right out of my mind.

A week later, I went to a mom’s night out that was actually a mom’s night in, where a local boutique came to us.

Phenomenal concept.

They set up racks of reasonably priced clothes and we all brought our favorite finger foods. We ate and laughed and talked and pilfered through the treasures, trying things on for each other in bedrooms throughout the house.

Despite the little nudge I had just days earlier, I came home with two new shirts that I somehow managed to squeeeeeze into my shelves.

I justified the purchases because I had tried on a mountain-size pile of clothes and only ended up with two shirts. Because everyone else had bought more. Because I could have spent hundreds and only spent $60.

Because it was the experience that I was paying for, and that was priceless afterall.

Two weeks later, one of the shirts still had its tags, and I stood in front of the closet again, feeling, AGAIN, like I had nothing to wear. I was incorrigible, and something had to give.

The next day, I filled up four heavy-duty storage tubs and promptly carried them to the garage where they would sit while I decided if I really needed them or not.

I reduced my summer wardrobe to 50 items of clothes and committed to bringing nothing in for the next two months.

50 items of clothes probably seems like a lot, and for billions of people around the world it is.

But for a middle class woman in America who has been pumped with the message that more is more for three decades, limiting myself to 50 items of clothes felt like a real sacrifice.

Before Closet

After Closet


As soon as I took the tubs into the garage, I already felt like I could breathe a little easier.

I had cleared space not only in my closet, but in my mind.

I did not include shoes, belts, scarves or other accessories in the purge. I also counted my basic tank tops and t-shirts as one, which in retrospect was kind of cheating, but it was my game so I got to make the rules.

I made it nearly two and a half weeks before I broke my own rules.

We were getting ready to go on family vacation, and I wanted a swimsuit cover-up.

I went out and bought a kimono type thing that stayed in the suitcase almost the entire time we were gone.

Our family doesn’t vacation at a posh resort where they serve you drinks poolside. My husband’s t-shirts would have sufficed just fine.

This is the mess I’m talking about. It’s not about the clothes. It’s about more than enough never seeming like enough.

Consumerism has become a fancy word for greed, and shopping has become a gateway drug for vanity, indulgence, and materialism. Think I’m over-exaggerating? How many times have you gone on a mini-spree to get yourself out of a moody funk? Retail therapy at its finest.

There were times that the experiment was really challenging. I wanted to go out and buy a new dress for my cousin’s wedding, but then considered the fact that my entire family lives over 300 miles away and hasn’t seen me since Christmas. I doubt they would be concerned about what dress I wore.

Interestingly enough, the hardest stretch was when my husband was out of town working for two weeks. I hadn’t considered how much I courted this secret love when he was gone. A walk through Anthropologie was way less destructive than meeting an old beau for coffee…until the credit card bill came in.

But overall, my summer of yes to so many other things became my summer of less in regards to the material stuff. My uniform was shorts and a tank top, and if I was feeling real fancy, I’d switch out for jeans and change my jewelry.

I felt disciplined and in control. Not all that different to how fantastic I feel when I choose a salad over fried chicken.

Making healthy choices and delaying gratification…realizing that gluttony isn’t always about food.

I’m slowly beginning to bring clothes in from the bins in the garage, but I’m being more mindful about it. I’m shopping again, but being selective about what comes home with me.

************

The other night, I decided to take the same approach with my kids’ toys. I brought everything into the living room and dumped it all out. It looked like a toy-eating dinosaur had eaten every toy in the house and then threw up all over our floor. I filled up one full trash bag of things to donate and one full trash bag of…well, trash. Then I packed two tubs of toys to be hidden in the closet for awhile so that when they come out in a couple months they’ll be new again.

I don’t want to create an insatiable appetite for stuff in little boys who would just as soon be scooping up dirt with a plastic measuring cup.

As autumn and winter inch their way into Texas, I’m making room for them.

I want to spend my money on experiences and invest in relationships. I want to make space for the intangibles in my life…competence, respect, joy, honor… I’m poking my finger at this minimalist movement and seeing if it comes to life.

This whole thing was a social experiment at most. But I learned something important about myself: I’ll be ok spending less time in front of the mirror trying on outfits, so long as it gives me more time to have dance parties with my kiddos…no formal attire required.

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Jody
Jody hid in the hills of Missouri until her husband, Caleb, rescued her and made her a Mrs . . . at least that’s the story he tells. A mere four years in and they’ve added a brilliant, big-hearted boy, Jude(2010) and an equally endearing, Oliver(2013) to their family. Still pretty amazed at the fact that she grew too tiny humans when she can’t even keep a rubber tree plant alive, Jody recently stopped traveling with a ministry conference team to stay at home and rough and tumble around with her boys. She loves Jesus, coffee, and big sunglasses, and keeps her inner gypsy alive by traveling whenever she gets the chance.

1 COMMENT

  1. Just read this–I’m in this same boat…committing myself to getting my living space aligned with my focus on contentedness. It would be nice if the stuff I don’t want/need would just magically disappear, but my motive is pure, and I know the time is well-spent. I donated half of my wardrobe to my friend Malena, who cleans my house. She said she knew people that needed it all, and that made me smile! My approach was to keep only things that were 50% or more natural fibers. It was amazing how much polyester I had in that closet…

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