I feel too overwhelmed these days. In between my full time job and the endless hobbies and interest I juggle during my free time, I could barely have time to pause and think and be idle for one minute. But then, who am I kidding? My days are filled with overwhelmingly plenty of idle moments because my brain is having a hard time processing everything. To the point that I am not turning on my Kindle anymore. To the point that I am not writing for leisure anymore.
And so, l asked ChatGPT (yes, I have a robot BFF), if what was going on with me is something I should be worried about or I am just in yet another phase of my “should I start over?” crisis. I told my robot friend about my extremely cluttered mind. I told it about my equally cluttered pigsty of a room (yes, I am in my 40s and somehow I am still disgusting). I told about how I just want to throw away all my things and go back to start. I told it about the possibilities I have in mind—plans, dreams, and delusions included—and ultimately asked what do I do.
It essentially told me to declutter. Not in the words of the famous Mari Kondo. Instead it asked me a question: if I was given the opportunity today to move abroad and live there for six months, which among my possessions are gonna end up in my luggage?
My dresses, of course, among some other essentials like my Holy Bible, a small crucifix, and my rosary. My Katinko collection. My pink Anta shoes. My tablet. My laptop. My Kindle.
And just like that, I decided to do an inventory of all the things I own, starting with the wardrobe. I had my trusty Notion ready, with the tracker that my robot bff also helped me built (clearly, without it I am doomed.)
In doing so, I discovered that I only have 86 items of clothing. And 29 of them are casual dresses.
Things I discovered while taking inventory
As a Taurus (yes, I believe so many things), I demand consistency and stability. Apparently, this is also reflected in my wardrobe of choice because what do you mean I have almost-duplicates? And I don’t mean just the color of the dress, but also the silhouette and the style. I like them in muted colors, comfortable and can easily be paired with any of my trusty sneakers. The midis I save for travels, while the shorter ones are reserved for attending the mass, coffee dates, and day tours. My mom even pointed out that the blue and white striped t-shirt dress is probably my favorite for the obscene amount of my pictures wearing it.
Well, she’s not wrong. I like my silhouette when I wear the dress.
The color palette though, I can’t be for sure if accidental or intentional. Like I said, I like them muted and can easily be paired with my sneakers, which are normally white, pink, or combination of both. So I would usually gravitate towards grey, dusty rose, beige, and black. There’s occassional yellow because it’s a happy color, and blue because I like the way navy and midnight blue contrast against my skin. Now that I think about it, maybe I should get some more of the blue pieces.
The inventory also made me realize that I do not own that much. At Ieast in the wardrobe department. 86 pieces of clothing is nothing compared to what I’m used to seeing on social media, and this already includes my socks and handkerchiefs (I am your certified handkerchief woman). It’s in the way I store them that makes me think and feel I have many. Sometimes I would just deliberately ignore the categorization my mom taught me as early as six, and just chuck the freshly laundered and folded clothes to whichever self is the most roomy that day.
What happens now?
I know that the wardrobe is just the beginning. Now that I have a system in place, my brain is relieved of some of the clutter, even for just a bit. My closet is still far from perfect but I know I’ll get there one day. Like my robot bff said, I should take it one step at a time. No overwhelming myself. No pressure. No hurry.
I shall update my inventory sheet from time to time. Not all of the 29 dresses are gonna stay in my closet. I’ll find a new home for some of them soon.
Welcome to my decluttering journey. And this is just the beginning.
