#2023ClosetCleanUp

Hey friends, Happy New Year!

These pictures are of my bedroom, and the massive piles of (mostly clean) clothing and other junk that occupy the floor. You may guess from these pictures that I have ADHD (and also depression and anxiety, isn’t that fun?) and that cleaning and putting things away are not areas that I excel in. And you’d be right. Over the last few years the mess in my bedroom has gotten to the point where even I can’t stand it any more. And it’s not functional.

Here you can see just some of the problem areas. On the left, my mostly empty bookshelf with a pile of blankets and socks in front of it. In the middle, a beautiful keyboard I don’t even use because there’s so much stuff in front of it. And on the right, my scarves, yikes.

So what exactly do I plan to do about this mess? I can just pick everything up and put it away where it goes, right? I mean, yes? I could do that. But what I would really like to do, and what I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now, is to do a massive clothing purge, Marie Kondo style, and get rid of everything that no longer sparks joy (or no longer fits). I think this is going to serve three purposes:

1. It’s going to get my space cleaner and more organized, that by itself is a good enough goal.
2. Getting rid of clothing that no longer fits is (hopefully) going to help me feel a lot better about my body. Who wants to stare at a closet full of stuff that’s too small for them? That doesn’t feel great. Having only options that fit me well is going to make getting dressed less of an emotional mine field (I really hope)
3. It’s going to show me what stuff I need. With piles this big, you wouldn’t think I needed anything, but I know there are gaps in my wardrobe, I just don’t know where because there’s too much stuff in the way to see them!

You may be noticing though, that this isn’t my usual content. It has nothing to do with sex toys, or medieval illuminations or book reviews, and you are correct. So then why post it here? Accountability, that’s why. I’ve found that one of the things that works for my ADHD, is having someone else (or a lot of someones elses) to be accountable to when it comes to doing a difficult or repetitive task (I’m not great at those). For example when I started PT for my broken ankle, I posted the daily exercises I was doing on twitter, and being accountable to so many people really helped keep me on track. I’m also currently doing a little series on TikTok where I show you the progress I’m making sorting through an embarrassingly large pile of old bills and mail, and knowing that I have to post a video every week is really helping me stay focused on that task.

So I’d like to use this blog (it’s my space, after all) as a place to share updates about my #2023ClosetCleanUp (does that sound catchy? I can change it!). I’m trying to use the momentum of January to get going on this project. It can be a difficult time of year not to get sucked into some diet bullshit or other, so I’m hoping to by-pass that and instead use that energy to improve my space, and make it more functional and livable. I deserve it.

If you want to come along on this journey with me stick around. Or follow me on twitter where I’ll probably be using the above hashtag, or talking about how January is “Revitalize Your Space” month. I’ll have short posts there, longer updates here, and I might even do a short clip or two on the Clock App… who knows?

Happy New Year friends, and may this one be… good. We need it.