Spring Cleaning Sentimental

About a year or so ago, I told myself that whenever I bought something, I would empty my closet or drawers of one of the same item. So, say I got a pair of shoes, I'd get rid of a pair. Well....I did that for about 3 months; and then stopped. I rationalized keeping things because of the varied weather in Des Moines. I maybe didn't wear that sweater last year; but maybe this coming year I'd put it back into the rotation. And, because of my consulting and being on boards, I couldn't get rid of my business attire, because I wanted variety in what I showed up to professional events wearing. And, don't get me started on my workout clothes drawers. Certain tops and shorts for specific activities; different colors for combinations. Sometimes I wear 2-3 workout outfits per day, so my lycra is nearly limitless! ...yeah, I'm going to get to sorting through that bureau soon.

Yesterday, I bought myself a really beautiful pair of Frye's boots. They're so soft and buttery.

My new boots! 

Mind you, I have 5 other pairs of tall boots. But, I just fell in love with these; and rationalized that they were on spring clearance; and that because of their color and style, that I can wear them with pretty much anything! How could I say no to these beauties?! As I placed them in their new home, I realized how stuffed my closet has become. I was kind of in disbelief, because I literally went through a cleaning of it right before Christmas, filling 2.5 garbage bags full of clothing and accessories for donation.

So, while the iron was hot, I started culling through my closet again. But, today, even though I was fairly productive, I totally resonated with this:

Yep, with each item, I had this lovely walk down memory lane. Oh, this red shirt, I wore it to every single ABWA regional conference as part of our board uniform - Oklahoma City, Louisville, Cary. This romper, it's been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal studios! These shoes, I've run in them in DC, Memphis, and Taos. I won a duathlon in them! This other pair of shoes I've toured New Orleans and Boston in!  The shirt I wore hiking in the north Georgia mountains! This dress I wore at my college reunion! The silk scarf I bought in Venice! 

Seriously, I had a really good time reliving the memories brought up by each of the items. And, started thinking about all of the stories each of my pieces of clothing would have to tell. It's pretty cool, actually. What stories would your clothes tell? Who we you with when you were wearing each of the items? What did you say? Do? Learn? How did what you were wearing impact the way you felt? Maybe that's an idea for a coffee table book. "Stories from my Closet." That could be fun. I will market it as a two pack, to be combined with my other book, "Adventures of the Random Single Street Strewn Shoe." 

Do you have stories you could tell with each item of clothing? If clothes make the person, what stories are your clothes making? And, how do you decide when to get rid of your clothes? Do you go through culling sprees? What's an item of clothing that you have that you've had the longest, and why? 

Balancing on a Fence - Awareness of Being Alive

Isn't it interesting how certain sights, tastes, sounds, can transport us someplace we've been before, even if it's years and miles away?

I think it's incredible how our memory works, storing information and losing some. Or, hanging onto nuggets, that are long forgotten, only to be brought up again in a flash of a second.

As I'm sitting here at my desk and looking outside my office window, I see the tree branches waving in the wind.The sunshine is muted in its wintry way, where even though it's 2:45 in the afternoon, it has the feeling of being much later in the day. There are patches of blue sky peeking through sweeps of clouds that are swiftly moving eastward, like big ships on the sea. They're gray, outlined with white and golden tan as the sun peeks through.

And, as I look out, it's something about the wind, about the color of the sky, about the clouds' movement, that I'm taken back to being 8 years old,, standing in my great grandparents' lawn, stepping on the edge of their wooden fence, my hands resting on top of the boards, and the tips of my toes, perched on the board at the bottom. Hanging on with my fingertips to the fence, my belly pressed into it so that I don't fall backwards, watching the sky.

I don't know what, if any, significance is held by that particular day. I don't remember anything that stands out about that day in terms of events happening. Other than balancing on the fence watching the clouds go by and feeling the wind bristle along my body, my fingertips and toes gripping. Maybe it was an awareness of being alive. Of being fully present in the moment.

I remember days like that as a child, where I'd stop suddenly and look out at the sky or mountains, and recognize in that moment that I was alive. And, be completely overwhelmed by that feeling. It's vastness. Being completely and wholly aware of and frightened by the recognition that I was present, alive, an individual, alone in my thoughts and experience of that moment of realization.

Not that I was alone in that I was by myself. Rather, that I was alone in feeling that vastness, and in that recognition. Did others have those moments? I wasn't about to ask for fear of sounding strange.

As a kid (and even now) do you have those moments of recognizing your aliveness and the vastness of this world? And, if so, how do they make you feel?