Yup – seriously.
This is phase 1 of my new project – a shopping detox. No shopping for the entire month of August. No clothes, no shoes, no accessories, no nail polish, no make-up, no hair products, no plane tickets - in other words, no fun.
People have asked if I am still able to buy food or shampoo. The answer is yes. I am not boycotting being a consumer in general, I am just trying to control my inner shopaholic. I don’t need a new outfit every time I go out or every time I go on vacation. I don’t need 8 different shades of purple nail polish.
To keep myself motivated, I am changing my computer’s internet homepage from Nordstrom.com, avoiding the malls, and focusing on some of my other favorite activities, such as reading. In fact, I already have two books to add to my August reading list - “Throw Out Fifty Things” which is about how to learn to easily identify and rid yourself of excess clutter in your life, and “The 100 Thing Challenge” which is about a guy who decided to – yup, you guessed it – select and live with only 100 items.
This brings me to phase 2 – simplify. I raid my closet every few months to get rid of all the stuff I don’t wear. But since I have severe separation anxiety, I make excuses for a lot of items that should go, but that I just can’t seem to let go. For example, I have kept a ton of clothes that I spent a lot of money on, thinking that I needed to keep them to get my money’s worth. Why get rid of this $100 top? I’ve worn it once. But that’s like thinking to get your money’s worth from a meal, you need to clean your plate every single time and not waste any food. That adds nothing positive and will just make me fat.
So this time, my spring-turned-summer-turned-almost-fall cleaning will be different. Tough love style. I’m not only going straight to the source and boycotting shopping for the month, but I plan on getting rid of a ton of stuff to clear out physical and mental space in my life. After all, who needs 50+ dresses?!
Wish me luck!
[[ Song of the day :: "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins :: because it's always a good time for Smashing Pumpkins ]]
