A good friend advised me to add a few hermit-like weekends to my schedule, be a bit lonely, be a bit bored (and fill that time with productivity and creation rather than liver-destruction). It should triple productivity. I never sleep, I take naps here and there. Maybe that’s why I feel nutty all the time, like there are never enough hours. I don’t use them well. The advice couldn’t come at a better time, seeing as I will be on house-arrest for the next 10 days.
So for the remaining summer months I am swearing off a few vices. I’ll fill the voids with tropical self-portraits and glue gems onto the heels I don’t wear anymore, things like that.
One vice that’s out the window?
I hoard precious items. I own so. many. things. Shelves upon shelves of vintage trims, jewelry hanging off every hook in sight, ornate Diwali-money-giving envelopes, miles of fabric from across the globe, colorful glass bottles, 408324120 shades of nail polish, limited edition coasters from beer gardens, statues of elephants, Rajasthani puppets, ornate tea cups, repurposed salsa brand tote bags, and enough clothes to outfit a small country.
But I keep these things without using 70% of them regularly, and while seeing them sets me at some strange material-loving ease (not to have more, but to have what I find aesthetically enchanting ), there is a greater sense of anxiety associated with having everything around you all the time—even when everything is “precious”. Clutter is bad, even when the cluttering elements are individually awesome.
That habit of hoarding has spilled over to things like photos. I have thousands of photos to share. I haven’t regularly added them to this blog since last NYFW. I’m harboring two full days of stunning runway & backstage photos unseen by anyone other than fb buddies.
But I lost the lust to upload them, because the buzz over that is virtually done with, and with every day that passes it becomes an old project you just can’t work up the mojo to return to. I find this especially true in light of the mentality one develops when working in fashion, where an item or event’s relevance flies out the window within hours of it getting noticed by the general public.
But I should still post them, and I will, because they’re really beautiful, and it was part of my experience.
As Seth Godin would say, it’s important to ship (meaning, put what you’ve created into the world—don’t wait for perfection, don’t let it loom over you, don’t wait to reply to that email you’re dreading, etc). He also says “don’t ship if it’s late”, but in this case, in my personal blog where there are no deadlines or rules, I should still “ship” the content my life naturally provides. Or else it’s a horrible waste. Ship, get it out. Make projects with these materials and get them out. Or get the materials out. Give away the clothes, simplify the wardrobe.
Stop imagining scenarios where obscure things you own will add value to your experience on earth.
There will always be more stuff—that’s what Patti Smith said. Time to let go, put it into the world. Sell the craft supplies, donate the precious relics, clear out a space where I can get something done.
Really getting substantial personal goals accomplished in the past few years has been hard for several reasons, and mostly I attributed it to not having my own space to work. But now I have a big beautiful apartment and I’m not utilizing it the right way. Enough of that. Time to clean house. That’s my challenge this summer.
And I’ll start with posting some of these gorgeous &$*(@ photos from last NYFW.
Many more on the way.
xx
