Chloe's life: My clothes - assuming who I am...

Picture of me in one of my fall outfit

I have recently updated my wardrobe for fall.... as some of you may know, I am following Project 333 .. I went over the rules and my rules numerous times I find... but this post is NOT about rules... It's about rewards...

Yes I have rules.... yes I have minimized my wardrobe.... I use to have so many clothes... it was ridiculous... I am not even going to guess a number but I remember vividly, years ago, when talking with friends, about our wardrobe, we use to try and figure out how many of us we could dress for how many days without wearing the same item twice... Well at one point, I could have dressed 3 of us for a whole month without having to do laundry or wear the same item twice!!!! This was ridiculous!!!! But we thought it was funny... and it was almost like a contest... little did I know, I would get in big financial trouble over that!!! But no regrets... I had fun... and look at it on the bright side, because I ended up giving most of it, if not all of it, to charity, there are some "lucky" people in my neighbourhood!!!

After a year of project 333, I am now happy with the amount of clothes I have... they can ALL fit.... ALL 4 seasons... in one kid's size closet and a 3 chest drawer... AND there is still breathing room... and nothing under my bed or in another room!

But what else, aside from empty space did I get from project 333???

1) Free time - I take less time to figure out how to dress in the morning... I can therefore do more yoga!!! Or whatever else I want but stare at my wardrobe thinking I have nothing to wear!

2) I am now at a financial point where I am no longer creating debt and even paying of the small amount I have left.... I am not even stressed out by loosing my job because of money issues... I use to buy clothes literally EVERY weeks.... and not necessarily only one item!!! This was ridiculous!!! I am saving so much money by not buying so much clothes.... I haven't buy any clothes in over a month now... and I do not miss it... I really enjoy wearing MY clothes! I am also saving lots of time... that I can spend cooking delicious vegan meals... or doing yoga.. or reading books.. or enjoying a walk outside instead of in a shopping mall...

3) I had to pick and choose the items... and yes that did not go easy at first... because I use to pick them rationally... according to what people were expecting me to wear... and then I ended up not having anything or almost nothing I like to wear and felt comfortable in... so yes I ended up giving stuff and having to buy again... but now I understood how this really works... and as of this summer, I have nothing in my wardrobe that does not fit me well, that I do not feel great in, that doesn't reflect my lifestyle... and more importantly that doesn't reflect WHO I AM.... not who people want me to be or how people expect a 40 years old woman with a degree to dress...

4) And the greatest rewards from following project 333 for a year.... along with doing my yoga/meditation and working on myself is that I now know who I am... I found it... I can now let go of what others think... of what people's expectations are towards me... that is no longer significant to me because I am genuinely happy with who I am... and the image I send out... those 2 things are well in tune!!! And this is important... in order to be happy with yourself, you need to know who you are... deep down... underneath all those layers (physical or not)... and you need to put it out there!!! I am not saying you all have to be peace and love junkies like me to be happy... but you have to admit to yourself who you are... what you believe in... what you value most... and then it needs to be reflected outside of you so that you can attract similar people.... then you get surrounded with people that love you for who you are... not who they think you are.... and this is when all the magic starts to happen... people can feel authenticity.... and are attracted to it!!! I knew for years that I was that person... but I could not assume it... and it is still not always easy... it is so different than the majority... but this is how I feel great... and this is how I want to live my life...

So I am really happy I got to know Courtney and that she introduced me to project 333.... the magic of the Internet!!! It was really rewarding to me... It was the greatest gift I got in a long time... the gift of finding myself and learning to assume who I am... the gift of time... the gift of being debt free (or getting there)... the gift of freedom... freedom of being able to take time to myself.... freedom of being able to afford being jobless for a while...freedom of doing stuff I love rather than stuff I feel compelled to do...

I will try to take more pictures of my outfit... as requested by many of you... it's just not something I think about...