The Urge to Purge

“We do not have a lot of control in life, but we really do have control over the objects in our homes,…So when the world is spinning too fast and you feel completely crazed, just get the things around you settled.” I found  that Peri Wolman’s quote in an organizing advice article from the March, 2011 edition of O, The Oprah Magazine, really resonated with me.

In 2008, the company that I worked for for over 10 years was acquired by a larger company. When the dust settled in late 2008, I found myself without a job; I WAS LAID OFF. A few months after that I secured a part-time contract with a company that lasted 14 months. Without anything lined up, on June 30, 2010 I finished my gig. My next BIG task at hand was to find a job.

These days, finding a job is easier said than done. One has no control over anything in the process. You are lucky if your resume does not go into the ozone and actually makes it to the recruiter let alone the hiring manager; you are lucky if by the time that you find the posted job it is actually still available; you are lucky if your resume is an EXACT match for the position that you are applying for; you are lucky if after a first interview screen you have an opportunity to talk with the hiring manager; you are REALLY  lucky if you make it through the interview process and actually get an offer….Whew! I am happy to say that after 14 months, I crossed this chasm; I am now employed!

So what do you think that I did besides look for a job these past 14 months? When my world was spinning too fast and I felt completely crazed, I got the things around me settled; I detoxified my living environment; purging it not only from the clothes, shoes, accessories and jewelry that I have been holding onto for years, but also household items – knick-knacks, furniture, yard accessories, Christmas decorations, music CDs, and books.

First I went on a dusting, carpet cleaning and shelf reorganizing rampage. When that was done, I went deeper, deeper into my festering sore; the one that never quite heals; my walk-in clothes closet. Over the years, I have spent so many hours organizing and reorganizing all of the old things that I was holding onto and incorporating all the new things that were coming in. I wasted so much time, time that could have been spent with family, friends, passions and other things so much more important than stuff.

The idea of ridding myself of all of this stuff that I was holding onto for years came from a book that I was reading at the time – The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The Happiness Project  is Ms. Rubin’s memoir of a year “test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.”

Part of Gretchen’s January goals, were to “Toss, Restore, Organize.” She stated “Household disorder was a constant drain on my energy; The minute I walked through the apartment door, I felt as if I needed to start putting clothes in the hamper and gathering loose toys.” This was another resonating moment for me, this is me!

In the book, Gretchen identifies and defines eight types of clutter. I would wager that most of us have a little of all of this causing disorder in our homes and lives.

Clutter Types

• Nostalgic Clutter: Relics from an earlier time in your life.
• Conservation Clutter: Items that are kept for their usefulness, even though they are not used.
• Bargain Clutter: Items purchased because they were on sale.
• Freebie Clutter: Gifts, hand-me-downs, and giveaways that we take, store, and never use.
• Crutch Clutter: Items that you use, but know that you should not.
• Aspirational Clutter: Items that you have that you only aspire to use.
• Outgrown Clutter: Items that you used in the past that have been replaced by something newer, more modern.
• Buyer’s Remorse Clutter: Items that you purchase, regret, and keep.

Following Gretchen’s footsteps, I started with my closet full of fashions that were now too large or items that I purchased because the were a “steal of a deal,” or some fabulous thing that I aspired to wear and never did, and even some “buyer’s remorse” items, most with tags still intact. One at a time, I tried each item on to determine if I should keep them and wear them, have them altered and wear them, or just get rid of them altogether. Ultimately, I decided to get rid of them, along with shoes, handbags, scarves and costume jewelry that was taking up my precious closet real estate.

This is the point where I deviated from Gretchen’s path and charted my own course, consignment shops. A friend of my mother’s has always had success selling her accessories and apparel at consignment shops. Also Michelle, a colleague of mine educated me on consignment shops as she used to own and operate one in Saratoga, California. She recommended Julie Painchaud – owner of Our Secret, “award winning, designer label, consignment boutique” in Willow Glen.

Fortunately, Julie makes house calls because after my closet purge, I had a couple hundred items to get rid of. She came, took assesment and took all of my old treasures to Our Secret to be sold. Since that fateful day last April 2010, I have been taking all of my clothes, shoes, scarves and jewelry there to become treasures for others and make a little money too.

I was able to return and receive refunds for most of my Buyer’s Remorse items because the tags were still intact. The items were from Nordstrom and Anthropologie; both retailers have a good ways in which to track your purchases. Nordstrom adds a bar coded sticker to the back of each price tag and at Anthropologie you can sign up for their Anthro Card which also has a bar code on the back. Both retailers use the bar codes as way to track purchases, confirm prices and make the return process almost effortless.

After tackling my closet, I decided to take on the attic. Over the years, the attic became a dumping ground for everything imaginable – books, framed pictures, furniture, Christmas decorations, and knick-knacks. Fortunately, I knew exactly where to go to sell these items – Leftovers.

My friend Sharon and I just happened upon Leftovers during the Fall of 2008; we were exploring new terrain in San Francisco. Needless to say, I found a few fabulous finds at Leftovers before I started consigning there. Each time that I visited the store, I got to know the Owner Kelly, Sales Manager Michael and the rest of the helpful, friendly staff. During one of my visits, I asked Michael how one would go about consigning there. After our discussion, the rest is history. I can’t even count how many times that I filled my Land Cruiser to the bursting point with all of those things that were weighing me down. Over 90% of the items that I took to Leftovers were successfully sold. Unfortunately, Leftovers is not longer in operation (2018).

After the attic, I found other resources to unload our unwanted stuff. I organized and alphabetized our CD collection only to find many duplications, some of which occurred after merging households when we got married, others were a result form buying music that we already had due to not knowing what we had. I took the CDs to Rasputin Music in Campbell. A small pittance was paid for the CDs that I brought.

Following suit, I went through all of the old books that were collecting dust on the shelves. I found BookBuyers in Mountain View, a store that buys and trades books. Buying and trading can be done Wednesdays through Sundays. Cash is offered for items that are are in good condition, high in demand, and low in supply; otherwise, trade credit is given. Trade credit is offered at twice the rate of the cash offering and can be used towards books in the store. BookBuyers also takes CDs, DVDs, and audio books. Unfortunately, BookBuyers is no longer in operation (2108).

I cleaned out much of my Nostalgic, Conservation, Freebie, and Aspirational clutter through sifting through my old gold and silver jewelry, and all of the silver jewelry findings that I had collected over the years thinking one-day that I would be a famous jewelry designer. During this time, gold and silver prices had rocketed; I had to take advantage!

Many years ago, at least 10 to 15, I happened upon a jeweler in Los Gatos, Gehrkens. There, I found a platinum and 18k ring made with four dog bones; the bone being the signature of Ken Gehrkens. This beautiful creation was perfect piece of jewelry for my husband.

My project began early in 2010. I visited Ken loaded with grams, upon grams of gold and silver. Throughout the summer, I continued to clean out old jewelry and findings and I continued to visit with Ken providing him more grams of silver. In fact, I provided enough metal to pay for approximately 90-95% of the cost of Bob’s ring. So on December 31, 2010, our 18th anniversary, I surprised Bob with this ring.

I would not wish job loss or lay-off to anyone. If disaster does strike, remember a couple lessons that I have learned. First, one of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff antidotes – will any of this really matter when I am gone? Life or in my case, my job went on without me. Move forward and use your time wisely; do the things that you did not have time to do when you were working. For me it was ridding my home of all of the toxic substances, the old clothes and clutter that was weighing me down. I did not have any control about the fact that I was laid-off. I did feel that my life was spinning out of control and I felt crazed. I took control and advantage of the situation and felt relief by settling my things, making some money, and enjoying my time in my clutter-free home.