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Out with the old and in with the new
02 . 06 . 24
02 . 06 . 24
I could use the excuse that there hasn’t been enough time, but if we are really honest with ourselves, we always find time to do the things that are most important to us. Mull over that little nugget for a while!
What I’m referring to is the unwanted clothes collection now taking up space in my cellar. My Vinted emporium, just waiting to happen, the stock for which was created during the most wonderfully freeing wardrobe detox, facilitated by my talented stylist friend, Emma Carr (@thefashioncraver).
Have you ever done it, had a proper, honest clothing detox? Really got ruthless with what does not suit or serve you anymore?
For me, it meant getting over some surprising levels of emotional attachment, which feels a bit crackers to say - they are just ‘things’ right? I’m pretty good at getting rid of ‘stuff’. I’m not a hoarder. I like to create that all-important space I promote so much, wherever I can, mental and physical. But facts are, I could barely move my hangers, my t-shirt drawer could have clothed an army and the whole back two-thirds of my sports clothes drawer has been resigned to ‘just in case’ for as long as I remember.
It took me saying out loud to Emma “But I used to love that dress” to really hear what I was saying. ‘I USED to love that dress…’
Just saying it, hearing myself out loud, I was already taking it off the hanger and throwing it in the ‘no thanks’ pile. Rinse and repeat until quite the mountainous piles formed and the wardrobe began to take a wonderfully deep, clear, and spacious breath. As did I.
A pile of ‘donate to charity’ (all good stuff, just not branded or in demand as such, so not worth resale on Vinted), a pile of ‘things I would take to be altered’ to better suit me in some way (kudos to Stitches in Manchester - thanks!), and the final pile being ‘stuff worth selling on Vinted’ - 2 huge vacuum-sealed bags to be precise.
The freedom feeling, the creation of mental space, of release this process created was quite something.
Do you know what I realised? This process didn’t just facilitate the physical removal of clothes. It didn’t just create mental space because the job was done, it was something far bigger than that.
The biggest realisation for me was that I was finally releasing a past version of myself. One I no longer see as being the person I am today. A version that no longer exists, and with a fair level of poignance, I realise keeping all these clothes was holding me back and stopping me from really being able to be free to grow.
No, I’ve not gone mad and I’m not being completely extra about this. I want you to try it and see what I mean for yourself.
As I went into the drawers and wardrobes, I had a mix of ‘me’ now clothing, but I’d also left myself open to the choice to ‘throw on’ and step back into an old version of me. Something that felt familiar and comfortable maybe.
But those clothes didn’t feel fresh anymore. Didn’t reflect or make me feel like the person I am now. Didn’t make me walk tall. And that is not a choice I want to have to make. I now make conscious decisions based on moving forwards, not going backwards. You?
The feeling this offloading created is beyond. Inexplicable. Honestly, what a way to create a positive energy Shift so easily and in so many ways.
Now for the next stage of positive energy creation!
Me now talking about selling on Vinted, as you probably know by now if you’ve been with me for some time, is not really for the purpose of talking about selling on Vinted. There is a poignant thought process within this tale to leave you with.
But yes, I have finally begun the offloading!
Essentially, I was left with bags of things that were no longer of any value to me. Creating heavy energy; another ‘job’ that wasn’t complete. Energy like that felt stagnant. I think you can physically feel the weight of something still hanging around. So, I made the decision to put that energy, those clothes, those bags to good use.
This morning, charity bags were delivered, as usual, to a wonderful charity who collect for refugees coming into the country. Each item is specifically given to people who need it. No sitting in bags in charity shop storerooms, so that feels great. (Kudos and massive thanks to the tireless, kind beyond words efforts of Chorlton Refugee Aid).
As for my Vinted items, I will photograph them, put them up in my own little shop, and enjoy the process. When something sells, something you don’t want or need anymore, and it becomes useful again, what gorgeously positive energy does that perpetuate?
Also worth noting, from a positive energy perspective, is the energy created when you feel that money coming in, and the happiness somebody else feels when they receive the item cheaper than they’d have had to pay for it new (or maybe the item wasn’t available anymore and you’ve just made it so!).
Feel into the happiness you get when you package it up and say goodbye to it too. Aaaahhhh. Exhale!
It’s like an analogy for life, isn’t it? (Here she goes!)
We carry around all this baggage, and it weighs us down, all this old stuff. But actually, this isn’t a negative when you look at it, because that ‘stuff’ has got us where we are today.
A lot of that baggage is caused by external input that we’ve absorbed as our own—our own feelings, thoughts, beliefs, emotions. Just like the clothes in our wardrobe, these external influences become part of how we see ourselves. Over time, these outdated clothes and old beliefs keep us stuck in a past version of ourselves, like a heavy weight around our necks, sometimes so heavy on our shoulders that we feel we have to keep our shoulders up high to support it (how many of you just consciously dropped your shoulders?!).
When we become aware of that (I have no doubt, that with you in my world you already have a great level of awareness), aware of the things we don’t want to feel, we start building awareness of how we do want to feel. And when we act upon that, THAT is where the positive shifts start to happen.
As for Vinted, yes, I could give the whole lot to charity or sell through a dress exchange, but personally, I like the feeling of selling the good stuff I’ve bought and previously loved. I get a real buzz from the energetic exchange. The effort I put in to make it happen and the money I generate from doing so. If I’m going to be really honest, it takes away the (completely unnecessary but working on that) guilt I have for buying more things I love. Brannies and seconds from Vinted!
I guess what I’m saying is, when you do get rid of the old stuff, it really does make room for the new. Be that in your wardrobe or in your mental space; learning to release, to free up the gripping on to everything, physical and metaphorical, it really is the only way to grow and create flow.
Flow is after all the sweet spot in life we all aspire to.
Make this week a week of great energetic clearing!
All the love