Capsule

I've recently moved house, which has meant that I had the awful task of packing up and sorting out my things (does anybody ever really enjoy packing?!). 

Whether you're moving house or just sorting a room it's usually a surprise to find just how much stuff you've managed to accumulate...

Why do I have 5 pairs of scissors in my bedroom? Why have I kept an old, out of date pair of prescription glasses? Why have my "white" (brown) trainers not just been thrown out?

Then there's the wardrobe full of clothes, of which you probably only wear 40% of...

If you're anything like me then you're not a hoarder, but you are sentimental and you're forever giving your clothes a second chance...and a third, and a fourth.

(Pinterest)

I've also recently become quite intrigued by the idea of a Capsule Wardrobe. In brief, a Capsule Wardrobe is where you limit your wardrobe to 37 items (excluding underwear, formal wear, gym clothes, coats) that can work together to create a large number of different outfits with the different combinations. It's meant to help keep clutter down and live in a more minimalist way. You can Google it, Youtube it or Pinterest it - I think it's pretty interesting. I gave it a Youtube and watched as a number of people tried it and showed the contents of their wardrobes and the many outfit combinations they had put together. I loved it, and it was definitely an indulgent nosey into other people's styling choices, but there was something that stood out to me in one of the videos. This particular Youtuber had read up on the Capsule idea and said that you were encouraged when sorting out your clothes to ask yourself if you loved the item, if not, that it was just taking up room where something you did love could go.

 

We keep things for all sorts of reasons; sentimentality, wanting to give it second chance to be worn/used, not really ever sorting through stuff or even just forgetting it's there!

I started to think about this idea of keeping things in life, whether that's clothes, habits, hobbies or even relationships and wondered if, actually, it would do us good every now and then to de-clutter our lives and not just our wardrobe.

If we look at those reasons for keeping things through the idea of capsule wardrobe, and we do it honestly, we might find some interesting pieces...

(Pinterest)

1. Sentimental things - 

Some sentimental things are fine to keep, but some aren't. Sometimes these are things close to our hearts but we know they stopped being any good to us a while ago. Whether these are physical or emotional be honest with what you need to throw out. 

2. Second chances - 

Some things we keep in our (heart) wardrobe because we want to give them a second chance, that's fine, but be honest if it's not the second chance, but actually the third, fourth or fifth time. You aren't a bad person for cutting things from your life if it's not doing you any good.

3. Forget - 

Life gets busy and a lot of the time we aren't even aware of what we do without thinking, or what is going on inside unless we stop, look and re-evaluate. Something happens when we become intentional about things. Start being intentional about habits, mentality, and you time and you will start to see a real difference. It's also good to assess what we're holding close and whether we need to any more. Being intentional about these things can help us to keep what we want and get rid of what we don't...

(Pinterest)

I don't want to just have a wardrobe of things I love, I want a life I love. Of course, we will all have things in our lives that we can't just change, drop, or get rid of, and some of those will be things we find really really hard. But have a look at what you can change, and what can help you to feel the best you can in your circumstances. And if things don't need to be there, work on chucking them out of your life...

... to give that place to something else that you will love, that will fit, that will be positive, that will empower you and give you confidence and freedom.

My plan to is to attempt this capsule wardrobe idea; to use what I have in my wardrobe more efficiently and challenge myself in getting rid of what I really don't need anymore. I'm also going to think about my inner chest wardrobe and give that a de-clutter, so I can try to keep only the good stuff in there and wear it well.

Yours faithfully,

Jen

x

The Pressure of Perfection (part 2)

Embracing Your Imperfection

Yep.. that's right, you're imperfect, but guess what, so am I, so are your role models and so is everybody else.

In my last blog post I really just skimmed the surface of how social media, and how we are wired, can set us up to strive for that impossible perfection. I think an important part of releasing ourselves from the weight of that is to identify, acknowledge and embrace our imperfections. This doesn't mean that if a couple of your imperfections are that you're rude and horrible to people that you should embrace them - that's the kind of rubbish you work through sorting out... that's not OK...

We have to accept that we aren't always going to hit the mark, but that wherever we're at we ALL have a lot of good to give - yes, even that horrible girl who's been awful to you for years - she has something good to give too.

Something I have found really interesting and helpful in learning about myself is taking personality tests. There are a load of different types of personality tests but I think one of the most popular and easiest to understand is the Myers Briggs test. If you haven't heard of the Myers Briggs test it's a questionnaire you fill in that then indicates your psychological preferences for how you make decisions and perceive the world. Of course, to get an accurate answer you need to answer honestly, which can be hard. You can take this test online (I would recommend using https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test) and then you can read up on your personality type including how you relate to friends and family, how you might act in the work place, career wise and more. It also highlights some of you strengths and weakness and can be very revealing - I laughed quite a lot at how accurate it was. Sometimes it's really helpful to see some of your tendencies explained, both the good and bad, and why. Obviously there's a bigger variety of character's in the world than 16... these types are just indicators of how we might process things so don't let your answer let you feel like you've been confined to it's assessment, but use the bit that you can agree with and let it help you to assess where you are and what you want to change or work on - knowing why you behave a certain way is really important if you are wanting to change it for good. Lastly on the personality tests, sometimes it can be helpful to let a friend or family member read through the information on your type after the test as they can sometimes see things more clearly than you - it can also help strengthen relationships when we can understand why people behave the way they do, again in the good and the bad.

As we all know, each one of us is on a journey and have different gifts, talents and downfalls, but we often don't know what's really going on with people behind the scenes - so be kind and try and be gracious. The journey itself, like any adventure, can be hard, tough and wild sometimes but there's definitely beauty in it, even if we only see it in hindsight.

(from Pinterest)



Never underestimate the power of vulnerability and humility. Don't be ashamed when you're struggling, don't fear asking for help, admit you're wrong when you need to and don't be too proud to apologise. Some of the strongest people I know let tears flow freely and admit when they're fearful. They're aware of their weaknesses but don't let them define them, and they say sorry when it's right to however hard it is to say.

Remember we're all imperfect, all fighting demons and in the words of High School Musical... we;re all in this together.

Yours faithfully,
Jen x