Beyond the Closet: Decluttering Clothes, Emails, and Thoughts

Responding to this prompt wasn’t as easy as I initially thought it would be. There are so many areas of my life that I could declutter. The first and most obvious would be with my clothes. There are so many clothes that I have that I don’t wear, either because they don’t fit or because they’ve gone out of fashion. I feel bad throwing them out because I feel like it’s such a waste. I would donate them, but I wear my clothes pretty heavily, so they get worn. Which, I’m okay with wearing but I don’t feel comfortable giving them off as second-hand. I may just be overly cautious with that, I’m not sure.

Fast fashion refers to a highly profitable and popular sector of the fashion industry characterized by the rapid production of low-cost clothing, which mirrors the latest high-fashion trends and catwalk styles. This approach enables retailers to frequently update their offerings and encourage continual consumption. However, it has significant drawbacks, including environmental harm due to the massive production and disposal of clothing, poor labor conditions in manufacturing countries, and a culture of disposability among consumers. Fast fashion’s emphasis on speed and low costs has raised concerns about its sustainability and ethical implications.

One of the things that I think makes clothing such an obstacle for me is fast fashion. Fast fashion makes sure that by the time I’ve gotten bored with any clothing, it’s long since gone out of vogue. It also makes it nearly impossible to keep up with fashion trends. Staying fashionable is something I gave up on long ago. Typically, I try to pick out clothes that have a very basic style, with classic designs. Otherwise, I try to pick out clothing that I love so much that it doesn’t matter whether it’s trending or not, I’ll wear it with confidence. That would include my hyper blossom hoodie. These items, I do not want to give away until they’re so dilapidated that they shouldn’t be worn in public. I am a man, so I think that’s built into my genes. Either way, I definitely get my money’s worth out of my clothing.

Another area of my life that I could de-clutter would be the digital sphere within which I live. The first and most obvious would be cleaning out my email inbox. While I don’t delete emails too often, I do like to go through the emails and unsubscribe from newsletters that hold no interest to me. These days, everybody and their mother has an email newsletter. Half the time, I don’t even remember why I signed up for them. Typically, there’s some short-term benefit or something that I can get out of it. Otherwise, I rarely read them. It’s just like the junk mail that comes in the postal mail. Most of it goes directly into the trash. It’s such a waste. At least with email, you’re not wasting any paper, I guess.

Another aspect of the digital realm that I would like to declutter is my Google Drive and Google Photos. Google Photos stays pretty well organized by the use of AI these days. However, my Google Drive is a chaotic mess. Some things are organized into folders but other things like my documents and sheets are just strewn around. I have thousands and thousands of items in my drive that need to be organized. I think it would take half a century to organize them. I don’t even know if it’s worth it, but I know having it organized would feel like quite an accomplishment.

There’s one area that I wish I could declutter, but I’m not sure that it’s possible. That would be my mind. I’m constantly thinking about things, pretty useless things usually. Things that give me anxiety and make it nearly impossible to sleep at night. Things that make following through on commitments difficult. I wish there was an app that would allow me to sort through and declutter the unhelpful thoughts, organize the useful information… and while I’m at it, something to help with my memory! I think that would require an upgrade though.

I think mindfulness is supposed to help with decluttering one’s mind. The really odd part about that is, that if your mind is cluttered with thoughts and anxieties, it makes it even more difficult to practice mindfulness. I have a hard enough time quieting my mind for sleep, let alone practicing mindfulness. This reminds me, that the universe has been telling me to meditate more. I see verbiage about meditating everywhere I look, multiple times a day. Just last night, a friend messaged me asking me if I would like to pick up some books from him on the very subject.

Meditating when you have an overly-active mind is a tricky feat. I’ve been able to do it in the past, however it took a lot of dedication and practice. One of the things that I was always bad about when it comes to meditating is the sitting part. I prefer to lie down, but people caution against that because it’s thought that you would fall asleep. I kind of chuckle when I hear that. I wish that lying down would cause me to fall asleep. What a dream that would be.

Anyways, those are just some of the spaces in my life that could use some organization. I’m sure many of the people in my life (particularly my family) would be able to point out one or two more spaces, but this is a good start. No matter what or what type of space you’re trying to declutter, one thing is true. It takes intention and determination. It’s not an easy task and for most people, it’s not a fun task. If someone reading this knows the trick to find self-motivation that allows for the follow-through on such tasks, please feel free to share in the comments. I imagine life would be so much easier with those qualities instilled in me.

Take care.