It's Day 15 of the 30/30/30 challenge, and I'm halfway there. I've cheated twice, cried once, and have washed more loads of laundry in the past two weeks than I did all summer.

And I'm tired. We'll see if I make it to week four, but I'm not so sure.

You guys, I have tried (and failed miserably) to become a minimalist. In fact, I often pare down my decor each season but find myself thrifting more and more items to fill the space. Perhaps I'm not wired for emptiness; I like my brain full, my coffee cold, and my closet well-stocked. And by wearing only thirty items for an entire month? I'm feeling stifled.

And I know, I know. I promised a new lease on remixing last week. But for some reason, my heart's not in it.

Perhaps it all boils down to the idea that we, as a society, often associate maximalists as wasteful people. And sure, maybe we are. But is it really wasteful to own a lot of clothing/decor/accessories/tech/toys if you use them? Perhaps I'm playing the justification game, but I don't consider myself a hoarder, because although I do have a very, very full closet, I've admittedly worn 90% of its contents.

And yes, I could (and intend to) purge the remaining 10%. Yet to minimalize my closet just for the sake of doing it seems counter-productive.

Truth be told, I thought I could handle this challenge. I thought it would be no big deal to stick to mixing and matching thirty items (and only thirty items) from my closet for the next month. And although it's much, much harder than I expected, I'm glad I'm sticking to it. Because if nothing else, I'm learning to embrace my love for dress-up, organized chaos, and all things frivolous.

Minimalists schminalists.

12 Comments