Ring out the old stuff.....

I accomplished one chore over my winter break. I managed to clean out my closet.

I am not, by nature, a very organized person. I am also a bit of a hoarder. In fact, "stuff" threatens to take over my life in a way that can't be healthy.

I spend a lot of time moving stuff around. Sometimes, I move it from one drawer to another. I am working on being able to just let go of stuff, but it isn't easy.

Take, for instance, some candles I received for Christmas several years ago. They don't smell very good and I don't really trust myself with candles anyway. I am prone to lighting them and then forgetting about having done so. But I can't bring myself to toss them or, better yet, put them in a box and donate them to the Goodwill store, which is located only minutes from my house.

So I move them around. I encounter them every so often in a desk drawer or in the dining room hutch. Perhaps I feel guilt about getting rid of something that someone took time to buy for me. I think I'll just move them here until I decide what to do with them and then I promptly forget about them for another six months.

My closet is my biggest challenge. It is jammed full of past mistakes and hopeful intentions to reinvent myself.

See, I have a little problem with dressing. I am fussy, for one thing, and I just may have some issues with sensory input. This means that a wool sweater feels like a straight-jacket, and I will be in agony if there are any tags in a garment. Synthetic fabrics most often feel like sandpaper on my skin and if my socks fall down, my day is ruined.

Yeah, I know. We all have our things, don't we?

So I shop with this in mind. The most comfortable thing to wear, I have found, is a cotton t-shirt, with the tags removed, of course. Cotton sweaters and fleece are also OK, most of the time.

I must also say that my job requires me to sit on the floor for hours at a time, and a good day is one where I don't get paint, play dough or any type of bodily fluid on my clothing. Why on earth would someone wear "nice" clothes for this?

Now bear in mind that this little problem of mine pretty much disqualifies most clothing for me. So, when I find cotton t-shirts that fit and feel good, I buy one in every color. My daughter finds this a never-ending source of hilarity. She, obviously, did not inherit my sensory issues.

Anyway, in cleaning out my closet last week, I found that I have five long-sleeved white t-shirts, and seven short-sleeved white t-shirts. Then, we get into the colored ones. There's pink (two), light blue (three), purple (only one, go figure), black (four), gray (four again) and an odd assortment of pastel colors that must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

Are you sensing a theme here? Yeah, me too. I have thought of nominating myself to be featured on "What Not To Wear." I adore Clinton, by the way, and wouldn't mind spending some time with him in the Big Apple.

I can see myself now. First, I get put into the room of mirrors, wearing t-shirts. Clinton and Stacy mock me until I am shamed by the way I dress, and then they send me out to shop. They'll want me to buy trousers, jackets and those boots with the pointy toes. I'll feel overwhelmed and head directly for the t-shirt section.

Then, I'll hear Clinton on a megaphone, as if he is part of a SWAT team:

Put down the white t-shirts and no one gets hurt.

So, I tried, I really did, to get rid of my t-shirts when I cleaned out my closet last week. I just couldn't do it. But what I did do is arrange them by color and style. Long sleeves in one section, short sleeves in another.

I'll try to widen my horizons in 2011 to include something new. I really will. There's always 3/4 sleeved t-shirts. In a variety of colors.

Happy New Year.