You know how one thing leads to another and pretty soon you’re doing something you never intended to do, but there you are? I went in my closet this afternoon to put away a shirt. I’ve got this “thing,” and I rarely wear the same top twice to work over the course of a school year. Don’t ask. I’d probably have to post that in my “Why I’m Like This” category and frankly, I don’t know why I’m like this. Anyway, I usually just keep track of what I’ve worn in my head but with my head becoming fuller and fuller of both useful and useless information, I decided that perhaps I’d put shirts I’ve worn in a special section of my closet instead of mucking up my memory with that particular information. But. I have this other “thing” that compels me to keep my closet organized by color and sleeve length, and putting clothes I’ve worn in another part of the closet messes up my plans. What to do, what to do. Wait a minute! Since my closet is actually a bedroom that I’ve installed (well, in the interest of honesty and full disclosure, HAD installed by my husband, son, and father), there’s another closet in there that has doors on it, so maybe I can put clothes I’ve worn in there without having to see the shirts that are now out of place on the color spectrum. Of course as I begin to put shirts in there, I’ll keep them color-coded but for the time being, I just need to store them out of sight. So, I open the closet door to discover that the closet is already filled with clothes that I apparently put out of sight–and out of mind–at some point.
I could have just shut the door and come up with Plan B, but I didn’t; I’m nothing if not persistent. And now you see how one thing led to another because in order to enact my plan, I first had to empty the closet. I don’t know why the clothes in the closet were there; they were all winter clothes, so perhaps I put them in there last winter. In fact, I’m quite sure that’s what happened since I know that a clothes fairy did not come in and move my clothes around. Now that it’s getting close to winter, I may need those clothes again anyway, so I’m glad I found them. Let the shuffling begin. Winter clothes have to be moved to the appropriate spot in the main closet (by color and sleeve-length, remember) while clothes I’ve worn to work (plus anything out of season) gets moved into the out-of-sight closet. Remember that I never intended to do this today. In the first place, I had forgotten about the winter clothes that were in the closet and in the second place, I was just putting up one shirt from the laundry. But there I was, shuffling my spring and winter wardrobe about when it became apparent that I have a problem.
If it’s not bad enough that I’ve forgotten about an entire winter’s wardrobe, I also discovered at least a dozen (I suspect there are more, but I finally just decided I had had enough of myself) brand new items. Tags still on. Never been worn. I should make a rule for myself that I will not buy any new clothes until I have worn everything that is currently in my closet(s). I should also quit with the one-time-to-school rule. I thought perhaps I should go with a uniform of some sort–a Monday outfit, a Tuesday outfit, and so on. Then I remembered that thou shalt not should on thyself and wondered what type of activity I could pursue in which one thing would not lead to another. I hate to go to bed at 5:30 in the afternoon, but I guess that’s what I’m left with. What is wrong with me?
