Clearing out the ‘just in cases’
Author Caroline Buchanan attempts to rid her life – and mind – of all the pointless clutter…
How many times do we utter those three little words, just in case? I know I say it numerous times a day to myself – and I know I’m not the only one. The sun is shining, there’s not a cloud in the sky and yet we can be heard saying, ‘Take an umbrella, just in case.’ Or, ‘Buy some extra milk, just in case.’ Or, ‘I’d better put some make up on today, just in case.’ Or, ‘I’ll keep this old dress/skirt/pair of shoes (delete as appropriate), just in case.’
Lockdown has made many of us reassess our lives. In the Chinese language, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters – one meaning ‘danger’, the
other ‘opportunity’. Crisis, therefore, is an opportunity to grow. Those of us who are lucky enough to come out of this crisis owe it to ourselves, and the world, to have learned something from it!
Well, one of the things I’m doing is giving up keeping things I don’t need any more,
just in case. I’m going to be a new woman who lives clutter-free in thought, word and deed!
No more nonsense please, Caroline!
Just look at my email inbox – 14,519! I deal with all of the important ones, but then I’ll often go back and mark them as unread, just in case I’ve missed something vital.
Every now and again, I delete a few hundred, but they soon creep up again.
It would take me weeks to go through them all with a fine-tooth comb and so I’ve decided to bite the bullet and allocate just 45 minutes to bringing them down.
Now for my undie drawer. All those bras I’ve kept, just in case. Again, I need to take a new approach and give myself some firm boundaries here. A lot of those old bras certainly wouldn’t keep anything else firm or indeed boundaried!
Instead of picking up one at a time and making a decision to chuck, charity or choose to keep, I’m going to ‘pretend’ I’m chucking the lot out, and then pick a chosen few to put back. These will be the ‘musthaves’, with no room for ‘just in cases’.
As for the knickers, well, as nobody but me sees them, I can just keep the comfy ones. Preferably comfy
and pretty.
I won’t keep the glamorous pairs, just in case I meet the love of my life, because if that were to happen, I’ll have plenty of time to buy some new knickers as we get to know each other. If I ever tie that knot again, I would have to be very sure he was Mr Wonderful.
Now for the wardrobe. I’m a terrible hoarder of clothes, just in case they might be useful or come back into fashion. I’ve lost 24lbs this year, and as I’m determined not to put them on again, a chunk of my clothes have already gone to charity.
I’m still left with far too many, though. To sort this lot, I’m going to try a mix of my approach and Marie Kondo’s method.
I’m going to pretend to get rid of it all, then claw back the must-haves using Kondo’s famous question: ‘Does this give me joy?’ If it doesn’t, it will go.
That’s the plan, anyway…