I’m intrigued by minimalism – not as a hipster, tiny house movement, but as a weapon to combat anxiety.
I may not seem like an anxious person. I’m fairly laid back. I’m not type A. I’m all about making time for fun.
But under the surface, I am very easily overwhelmed by life.
I am overwhelmed by unanswered text messages and emails, always afraid I’ve forgotten something (and usually I have). I am overwhelmed by the million and one tiny decisions I have to make during the day, both at work and at home. It doesn’t matter if it’s as inconsequential as when I will make time to go grab milk, or whether to buy organic or non-organic milk, making rapid-fire decisions all day long wears on me. Sometimes I feel as if I reach a point where I’m paralyzed. I just stop responding to texts and emails. I stop making decisions. I burry my head in the sand. Not very effective or adult-like.
There’s been quite a bit written about decision fatigue in recent years, so I know I’m not totally alone. But the question remains, what to do about it?
For me, I have gradually begun to implement and enforce simplicity in my life. It has begun small. My son gets pretty much the exact same thing in his lunch box every day. We often eat repetitive dinners just to save time and money. And, most recently, I have begun to simplify my wardrobe.
I love clothes. I used to be really interested in fashion and put together clothing combinations as a kind of self-expressive art. I still like clothes. But I’m more interested in clothes that make me feel comfortable – so comfortable I can put them on and forget about them. And I’m not interested in trying on five outfits, hating them all and wondering why I have so many clothes and nothing to wear.
Thus I began my “capsule wardrobe” experiment. I began last spring, cleaning out about half of my clothes (I hang onto clothes forever and had clothes in my closet that were easily 15 years old) and only keeping items that I knew I felt comfortable in and I knew would go together. It wasn’t perfect the first go-around, but it was so liberating! Sure, I wore the same thing very often, but I didn’t care. I knew when I pulled something out of my closet it would fit and it would work for me. That is why, I’ve decided to take things a step further. I’ve decided to invest in a few pieces for my wardrobe and, starting this fall, wear the same thing every day.
Hold up. The same thing?
Yup.
I now have in my closet 5 pairs of skinny black pants, 5 tunic tee shirts (all the same color), and 5 tunic blouses. I left in a few other pieces for special occasions and because I’m still taking baby steps here. But I’m well on my way to having an IKEA wardrobe! You know what I’m talking about, right? Have you ever walked through the fake-apartment land of upstairs IKEA and looked through the closet only to wonder, “Who dresses like this?” Whose wardrobe is comprised of 6 identical white shirts, 2 black skirts, and 2 black pants? Well, mine won’t look like that exactly, but it will be close. And I’m ridiculously excited about it.
Will I get bored? Maybe. But that’s what necklaces and scarves are for – to mix things up just a bit. And, the truth is, I’m ok with being bored, especially if it leaves me with a tiny bit more mental energy for far more important decisions.
But the point is not the wardrobe itself. The point is to liberate myself from the tyranny of tiny decisions. Clothing is only one step among the many I hope to take towards a minimalist life – a life in which I have just a little more margin of time and energy for the things and the people I love.
M.M.Philpot 