Goodwill

Ok, I'm in a better mood now.

I just returned from a trip to Goodwill, where I dropped off a few pairs of pants.  Granted, it wasn't much of a donation, but it was a decent first effort for me for the year.

The truth is, I'm a pretty bad packrat.  Not at the level seen on shows like "Hoarders", but still pretty bad.  I have clothes that I know for a fact I owned when I worked for SunTrust 13 years ago.  And the sad thing is, on a day to day basis, I pretty much wear the same five outfits, leaving three closets full of crap to collect dust.

Aside from clothes, I'm also notorious for collecting various electronic equipment, cables, and other outdated "stuff", along with the random things I've picked up during my travels.  When I'm 80 years old and cannot remember my name, I'll NEED a real estate brochure from Playa del Carmen to bring back memories of the cruise I took in 2004.  That's just the way my brain works.  I'm not saying it's normal.

So the past few weeks have been all about purging.  I just threw out expense reports from 2004-2007.

Now back to the clothes.  The clothes are especially hard to get rid of.  I could gain 15 pounds again and need those larger pants.  Or hunter green Ralph Lauren Andrew style pants,ever fashionable on country estates, could once again look appropriate in an office setting.  So many potential variables to torment me.

It's nothing to take lightly or joke about.  All this talk about retro this and retro that, and vintage clothing being so sought after makes me think I could be sitting on top of a goldmine.  I could kick myself in the ass for getting rid of my good clubclothes from the 80's and 90's.  I wonder how much my long-ago discarded Hammer pants would fetch on eBay?

I suppose there's no sense in basking in the past by wallowing in tangible rubbish, and I still retain sufficient memories to remind me of every era of my life.  Besides, that which I do not remember, I'll simply relive.  So next week I'll painfully gather another bundle to take to Goodwill, hoping that someone can find use of that which I no longer need.  In exchange, I'll gladly take away the feeling of giving to those in need, as well as a receipt for a tax deduction and freed-up closet space.