If you can make a playlist (and I know you can), you can curate your closet!
1. Focus on the songs you love
When you create a playlist from your music library, you don’t focus on all the songs you are avoiding. Instead, you choose the songs that make you want to dance, remind you of a special time in your life and make you want to sing along. You don’t even pause for the ones that get stuck in your head until Wednesday at noon.
This should be the same when we are decluttering. Instead of focusing on all that you wish to remove, focus on the items that sing to you (pun intended). The items you adore. The ones that light your face up when you see it, use it and wear it.
Decluttering is a focus on what you cherish, not a determination to downsize.
2. Focus on how you want to feel
When you create a playlist, you choose songs based on how it will make you feel.
Want to feel adrenaline, pumped up and excited to workout? Put on upbeat songs with a great beat!
Want to feel reflective and focused? Put on slow, soulful songs.
Want to feel romantic and loving? Put on love songs with soothing lyrics.
When we choose a playlist, we prioritize how we want to feel when listening.
What if we treated our belongings in the same way? Asking ourselves how we want to feel and then deciding accordingly.
Do you want a house that is vibrant, makes you feel full of life and inspired? Surround yourself with belongings that make you feel that way.
Do you want to feel grounded, mindful and calm? Create an environment that supports and encourages those feelings.
Focus on how you want to feel and then ask yourself if your belongings are helping you feel that way.
3. You do not save songs for later
When I am into a song, I am IN to it! I will play it on repeat (much to my roommate’s chagrin). I will play it in the car, on a run, in the shower, when getting ready. When I love a song, I allow myself to love it fully. I am never afraid of wearing it out, wasting it, or saving it for the perfect day.
What if we did this with our clothes?
Imagine being obsessed with your new blazer! You wear it on a date, you wear it to visit with a friend, you wear it to work. You want the world to know you love this blazer!
We could love our clothes and use our belongings as much as we play our favourite song.
4. You skip songs and you skip clothes
When you’re listening to your playlist and you skip the same song, every time, it’s a sign. This song no longer fits with how you want this playlist to make you feel. Instead of questioning what that says about you, you simply remove the song
When you are constantly skipping over items in your closet (such as that dress who hasn’t seen the light of day since September 2017) we don’t question it, we accept it. Suddenly we have a confusing closet. We aren’t sure how it’s meant to make us feel. Upbeat, excited, downcast, grounded, sad? What is the mood of this closet? No one knows, least of all the closet curator.
5. No one has to tell you that you love a song
No one approves of your playlist. It makes you feel powerful and strong when you run, so you listen to it. Full stop. You love the beat and you can’t stop yourself from singing along, so you listen to it.
Why do we let other people inform our style? We bring friend’s shopping to weigh in on decisions, we ask people how we look before leaving the house, we look for affirmation from others to affirm our choices.
What if instead of asking other people, you asked yourself “how does this make me feel?” And just see what comes to the surface.
Flabby, uncomfortable and put together, are not words we are aiming for.
We want strong, brave, confident, loveable, kind, brilliant. If you aren’t feeling that way, why are you putting it on your body?
6. Your taste in music is allowed to change
You do not judge yourself for your favourite music genre changing and no longer loving a song you were obsessed with last summer.
The other day I realized I didn’t have the song “Closer” by The Chainsmokers on any of my Spotify playlists. I couldn’t believe it! The summer of 2016 I was obsessed with that song, listened to it everyday, and knew all the words by heart. Realizing I didn’t have it downloaded on my playlists four years later did not make me judge myself, but made me grateful that for all the songs I’ve fallen in love with since.
Just like it’s OK to let your lyrical world be rocked in a new way, by a new song, it’s OK to love new clothes and styles. Let go of those items that no longer sing and have faith you will find items that make you feel how you want
We do not have to keep every item we have ever loved, instead when we declutter we make room for new favourites.
Quick Recap:
- Focus on the clothes you love
- Focus on how you want your clothes to make you feel
- Do not save clothing for later
- Notice when you skip clothes
- No one has to approve of your style choices
- Your style choices are allowed to change
If your closet was a playlists, how would it make you feel?