Some people know they have too much clothing. Others are not sure. But the amount of clothing a person needs is far less than most people imagine.
The confusion about clothing comes from the huge improvement in the durability of textiles that happened a generation ago. Clothing made since 1990 is about five times as durable as clothing made before 1970, and we have not yet fully adjusted to this.
My friend Rhoda had told everyone about the health benefits of ginger, so it wasn’t too surprising when she came back from a weekend goal-setting workshop and said she had a plan to start selling ginger to the world. She even showed me the plan, 15 pages of circles, lines, and small handwritten notes. By Friday, though, she wasn’t so sure.
In Fear of Nothing, I mention moving as one of the events that can change your perspective on your possessions. Moving is so expensive, in such an obvious way, that you know you cannot move everything. You have to let go of some of the less important items. But you don’t have to wait till you move to get the benefit of this change in perspective. You can start preparing for your next move, even if you have only a vague idea of when it might be. Or you can pretend you’re moving.
Sandy Grason writes regularly on the use of journaling for personal transformation. I came across an article of hers that addresses the basic problem of clutter in the way that I advocate in Fear of Nothing, by focusing on the quality of space, but with a flair I couldn’t pretend to imitate. Sandy graciously offered to let me repeat her article here.
Readers have been asking for months what the Fear of Nothing book cover will look like. Finally, here it is.
There is good news on the book Fear of Nothing. A week ago I got the 7th draft back from the editors, who say it’s now final. I am now getting the book ready to go to press, and to record as an audio book. It’s my goal to get the book in your hands in time for your new year’s resolutions — which I hope will include tearing up your to-do list (more on that as the new year gets closer).
“Please don’t talk to us about living in balance. No one does. Even space shuttles veer off course during the trip, and they have computers to guide them. Just teach us how to be better jugglers.”
That was the desperate plea of a woman who had organized an event at which Joan Borysenko was about to speak. Did Joan fall for this line of reasoning? Not really, even though she today wrote a blog entry supposedly “busting the balance myth.” I don’t know if she really meant that or it was just an attention-getting headline, but after four paragraphs, Joan comes around to admitting that balance is not a myth, but a reality. If we fall over, our productivity suffers. “When I’m in balance,” she writes, “the unbalanced hodgepodge of things on the to-do list are accomplished more effectively.”
Clear away clutter and the to-do list and get your life moving again!
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