154 - Decluttering My Studio Dream

I'm decluttering to make more space for creating art. The hardest things to part with are things I've made, or materials for things I want to make. I do clear things out regularly and my home looks tidy, but it's certainly not minimalist.

There's a big grey bag that I feel quite guilty about. Is guilty the right word though? There isn't a word for wanting to hold on to something when you know you should let go of it. In fact it's not so much the bag (which I did once attempt to sell on eBay) but the contents. It is full of garments that need finishing or mending. There's a top inside that I started making roughly 38 years ago. It's very cute. But not finished. And unlikely to fit me now even if I did finish it. It is a puff sleeve blouse with a fitted waist, a bit like the top of a Swiss milk maid outfit. The fabric is pink with spaceships floating on it. I'll take a photo of it tomorrow.

It's the potential that's hard to let go of. The idea of that moment when you finish something and it's all sparkly and wonderful. The moment of completion shimmering on the horizon. 

I have another bag that's full of tights (as in, like stockings but with a waist). I never wear tights anymore. Also, some size 10 jeans which used to fit me. High waisted with a nice fit but probably totally out of fashion. Although I look skinny I am now more like a size 16 with a 'dangerous' roll of fat around the waist. So maybe I'm holding onto those because I'm not accepting old age fully.

Confessing / writing it here will help me clear the clutter. I like the feeling of letting go. It's like shrugging off a heavy cape. You feel light, unencumbered and calm.

What a beautifully pleasant presenter Ravi Surendra is. He declutters a lot although I noticed quite a lot went back into that utensils pot!