My Closet is Back to Normal and What I learned from wearing only 33 items for 3 months. By: Denise Orsulak

​My closet is now back to normal. On October 1st I decided to participate in a 3-month challenge to just dress with 33 items. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but I was committed to the process.
 
On the day before the challenge began for me, I emptied out my whole closet and pick the 33 items I thought would serve me best from October 1st to December 31st. Not easy. But it was doable. I boxed up all the other things in a plastic bin and moved it out of my room. All the things I was wearing could fit into about a quarter on the top hanging rack.
 
It didn't seem like much. But what I learned was it was enough. Surprisingly so. I will say that again, it was enough. There were a couple of times I wanted to cheat a little in the challenge. It was over a week and I didn't do laundry and there were just a few items left of my 33. I walked into my spare room and grabbed something else to wear and had to talk myself out and take off the item. It was about 2 weeks left until the end.
 
What I learned:
 
1)Temptations are real. And it's better to just remove them completely. I think this goes for any challenge you are going to do.
 
2) Comfort is important to me. There was one item in my 33 that I wore only once and only for a few hours because it wasn't that comfortable.
 
3) Sometimes you must be practical. I initially picked out an embroidered pain of jeans, but it only went with one other of my 33 and that wasn't going to last me the 3 months, so I swapped out those for a plain pair.
 
4) Colors make me happy. My wardrobe was toned down quite a bit, so I had more things that matched each other, but colors really brighten my mood.
 
5) No one noticed. And I told all the people who were coming to the yoga studio that I was doing the challenge. I even had people ask are you still doing it because they couldn't believe they couldn't tell.
 
6) I took much better care of the stuff I had because there wasn't an excess.
 
7) It helped me to stick with it by telling a lot of people. It was helpful for them to ask me how it was going. Another good tip if you are challenging yourself to do something different.
 
8) It was a little tricky to do this because of the weather. There was a fluctuation between 19 and 90 degrees.
 
9) I deserve to look and feel good, so the snug, worn, or not right clothes got donated.
 
10) I will do Project #333 again. I'm thinking June 1-August 31st to see if I learn anything else. I'm sure I will.
 
I was tempted to keep the items out of my closet but changed my mind. I am going to use my old trick of a robe belt. Every time I do the wash, I hang what I wore in front of that belt. By the end of the winter, I will consider donating any winter clothes I have not worn.
 
I love to experiment with these kinds of things. We don't know what enough is, until we feel it and live it. In general, I feel we have way too much. Having enough lets us focus on other things, gives us more time, and there is less effort taking care of all the excess.
 
Now I am looking at the excess plastic in my life. I want to reduce the amount my family and I use. Looking forward to any tips and tricks I might learn to find a way to help the environment. If we all do a little, will it be enough? I don't know but I want to do my part. Will write more on that as I progress in that process.
 
Warmly,
 
Denise


PS: I have a video of my closet during the challenge posted on my instagram page and also photos of my closet before and during the clean out. 

 https://www.instagram.com/balancedforlifeyoga/