a few examples of #closet365 so far!
Here's a fun thing about addictions: many of them are born out of avoidance! This is maybe most obvious when it comes to drinking. We have a bad day at work, we use it to justify happy hour with a coworker, for a few hours we forget about (but not solve! this is key!) our professional woes. And yes, for a few blissful hours, your problems are blurred but in the end they're still there, you're slightly worse for the wear and less able to deal with them.
I replicated this pattern roughly 10 times a day at work, with online shopping. I was - am - a bit scared to write this (and admit to scrolling freepeople.com whilst I am meant to be working! the horror!) but I'm fairly sure 99% of the working world does this as well - in fact, upon announcing my intent to not shop for a year, a coworker actually asked me "what will you do during lulls at work?"
The truth is I had become accustomed to numbing feelings of inadequacy with a quick look at Nordstrom, and mindlessly interrupting a less exciting task with a click at the new arrivals section of Anthropologie. Before I knew it what was a fun, diverting pastime for most became a full blown addiction for me. Do I think most people who shop at work are shopping addicts? NOPE. But I know, from knowing myself as well as one can at 30 years old that I was, because I don't do ANYTHING in moderation. My brain just doesn't work that way. I've had a string of hobbies too long to list. Only a few persist as a daily practice and it's taken me a very long time to come to understand that it's okay if I do many things sporadically and only a few consistently. I don't have to eat vegan/rock climb/run/do yoga/read a book/meditate/do a craft/meal plan/take a long walk/go to the playground/etc all in one day or even one week! Or even month!
Which is why instead of saying I'd "shop less" or "not shop for a month" I decided to quit for a full year. With guidelines. I know that my brain will do best at this with some THICK, HARD LINES that I simply do not allow myself to cross. It's the only way I've given things up in the past - I can't explain why, but usually I just reach a point where a switch flips in my brain, and it becomes relatively easy to say no more.
Saving money is a given, but the thing I most hope to get out of this experiment is time. It's been a busy weekend so perhaps too soon to tell, but I already feel more peaceful living in a bubble of "I don't shop, so why even look." It makes me feel slightly impervious to the near constant marketing of product we're subjected to America - make that the world - and that in and of itself is incredibly calming for me mentally. I'm already prone to anxiety, and with this switch I am sparing my brain of the "should I get this, okay get it before it sells out, does it fit me correctly? Hmmmm I need to exchange for a different size. Ok, I like this a lot maybe I should get another color?"
I would like to quickly say that I know undertaking this kind of thing at all is a display of extreme privilege. For many people the idea of "giving up shopping" doesn't make much sense at all given that they're naturally excluded from the activity due to lack of funds. Not that this should stop me doing it, but I want to at least say that I'm aware of it. I realize this is essentially a champagne problem. Not shopping in general has an effect of making you consider what you have, which is an exercise in happiness 10x over. If you haven't yet, check out one of many studies supporting the idea that the key to happiness is gratitude. I'm a big fan of the five minute journal for this in general, but there's something else I use for my weak spot, clothing, in particular.
I'm fairly obsessed with the Finery App (not sponsored and it's free) which catalogs your wardrobe by combing your email for receipts and purchases. You can add items not found in your email with a browser button similar to the "pin it" button on Pinterest. With just a few manual additions I could see everything I owned. Which, by the way, was A LOT. I have a lot of clothes. Many clothes. More than any person honestly needs, probably more than many people want. In fact, before I started this experiment I actually went through my Finery app and decided to return a few things including that plaid blazer pictured above because it is too big for me, sadly. Finery also sends you alerts when the return window for purchases is closing! Also, I can create outfits Cher Horowitz style and who didn't always want her closet after seeing it in Clueless? The only thing Finery is missing is the "MISMATCH!"
