What is it about Swapping out Summer Clothes that is so Satisfying?

It was too chilly today to work out in the garden as I had planned, so I did the climb to the attic to bring down the summer boxes. Partly it's the brighter colors: turquoise, pink and pale green to lighten up the black, white and gray that are staples in my closet. Partly it's the lighter fabrics. I am so tired of wrapping up in heavy, fuzzy, fleecy things every day. But most of all I think it's the fresh start that goes along with all the other things that are starting anew.

Somehow, just the act of folding away the old familiar winter clothes and shaking out and refolding the new spring and summer things and then putting it all neatly in the drawers makes me feel like I have turned a page and really started on a new part of the year. I even took the time to carry the boxes of winter clothes back upstairs to storage, completing the whole job in one afternoon.

It was also satisfying to clear out a lot of clothes that I know I won't wear again - you know the things that fit for five minutes when I was down to a size 12, the yellows and oranges that looked great on the hangers and made me look dead, and that black and white diagonal stripe top - what was I thinking? I had three bags for Goodwill, so hopefully someone smaller, golden-skinned and with a flair that I don't have will find good use for them. Into the trash pile went a lot of tee shirts with logos from a previous employer, the pink fleece anorak that I have worn to death, and all those odd socks that seem to multiply in the drawer all winter. What do socks do in there in the dark?

Telecommuting has really changed my wardrobe needs, so it will be interesting to see how the fall change-over goes. Will I have bought things for summer that I really love and use, or will there be lots to go to Goodwill - again. Will I have resisted the colors that just don't work, or will I have been sucked in one more time by something trendy and cute on the hanger? Will I have lost enough weight that I'll be getting rid of things that are too big, instead of too small? One can only hope.

Maybe that's what's it's really about - hope. Hope that in the next six months I will make lots of good decisions - starting with what I wear!