I’ve Had It: The Annoying Thing About Myself I Realized This Weekend

I came to a not-so-shocking revelation today that still somehow shocked me. Alright, “shocked” is a bit melodramatic of a word to use here, but halfway through folding my third load of laundry (with one more still under works), I had to stop and really question why on earth a singular person has so much laundry to do all the time. That same singular person who only leaves the house maybe once or twice a week, and wears pajama pants and leggings throughout most of her workday. How, I wondered, am I always drowning in laundry?

Step foot into my bedroom basically any given day and you’ll see “the chair.” You know the one…the chair that always seems to have a pile of either clean clothes that still need to get put away, or “purgatory” clothes that are neither clean enough to put away nor dirty enough to throw in the hamper. Most of my weekdays are spent digging through that chair for something to throw on to either run out for an errand or appointment or layer up when it gets a bit too chilly. How does that one chair become four loads of laundry nearly every week? HOW?

Well…I now know: I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF. Let me explain.

My biggest laundry headache is typically towels, sheets, and other house linens. Charles washes the towels he uses with his own stash of laundry, but somehow, the sheets we strip from the bed always end up in my hamper. Dirty sheets in the hamper, clean sheets on the bed, essentially once a week. When I go to do a load of laundry, I always sigh at the sheets (or my towels), dig around them for any clothes I know I want to wear and leave the rest in place. The last time I counted how many sheet sets I have for my previously queen-sized bed, the number was six. This needs a tiny bit of context.

I used to like having numerous pairs of sheets so I was never left with a bare mattress. Of those six sheet sets, I purchased three of them. That number worked pretty well for us. But then the amount doubled when I did a sheets review for an article I worked on years ago for Apartment Therapy. Hence, the half dozen flat and fitted sheets plus pillowcases plus duvet covers. It’s…too much. But for a while, I loved it, because it fed into my sheer laziness of being able to sleep on fresh bed linens, but not having to go through the wash and dry cycles for them. This is a similar story for my bath towels (had a set of four of my own, then did a towel review and it doubled).

My hamper would quickly fill up with everything but actual clothing, and then I’d spend an entire Sunday washing, fluffing, folding, putting away.

I thought the number of sheets and towels I had served me somehow, but instead, it fueled all my worst qualities, specifically procrastination leading to stressful cramming.

We have a king-sized bed now, and one pair of sheets. I plan on getting one additional set to have as a backup, and THAT IS IT. All those sheets I have for the queen (except for one or two sets) that is now in the guest room will be donated to the local pet shelter that I heard needs them for the doggies and kitties during winter. Over the time off I have around Christmas and New Years, I will be purging through my towels, too. And while I’m at it, I also do not need 10 pairs of black leggings “just in case” and so on and so forth.

Standing there, folding the umpteenth pillowcase, I literally screamed out loud “HOW MANY PILLOWCASES DOES A PERSON NEED” and once I calmed down, I vowed to myself that I would strip down and take stock of what I *really* need in this house, and find ways to donate the rest. I do not need three bottles of sunscreen on my dresser. I do not need four backup deodorants for some unknown reason. I do not need what feels like 75 mini perfume sample bottles I’ve hoarded over the last year that always seem to come with my Sephora packages.

I’m so tired of “stuff” and I want nothing to do with it anymore. There were many years/decades of my life where I didn’t understand how those who chose to live minimally could do it (let alone want to), but more and more, the older I get and the more things I acquire, I get it.

Long live getting rid of all the crap that weighs down our lives, burdens our everyday and serves us in no way.

See you tomorrow, FOAS.