The 13 takeaways from my 1-item month

Plus 12 ways I'll move forward (maybe you'll join me)

So.

I have recorded the purchases. I have wrestled with the feelings. And I’ve done a hard thing. (Not in the scheme of “hard things.”) But I’ve taken an action. I’ve faced some stuff. I’ve shared that stuff, including some embarrassing and heartfelt stuff, with all of you. 

So now what? Here we are. 

You know, all this has been coupled with a bit of “life is short” stuff. Between my parents’ being next door, my dad’s health issues, my breast lump trials (currently fine!), I have been having these flash bangs of thought. They fly at me at inopportune times. 

Like randomly, sitting in a coffee shop. It looks something like this. What are we doing here? Life is, say, 95 years on earth. They are going by faster and faster! College years felt so much more languorous than these do. I mean, I slept in without a thought that I was “wasting” anything!

I just think (I swear I’m getting to it), we are here for this short period, and we are surrounded by a lot of sad and scary things, if you let yourself think about it. We need to compartmentalize. It’s not shallow, lame, or irresponsible. It’s essential. At 95 or whatever, we move on to whatever place is next. Maybe that’s great. Maybe it’s like that wonderful sleep after a colonoscopy. Who knows? I just know that we need to find and feel joy and help others do the same while we’re here.

That’s what style and fashion is to me. Daily joy. I am not gifted, it’s not my work, it’s not an art form for me. It’s just a pleasure, community, seeking and sharing it together. And that means that I don’t judge and interfere with others’ fashion joy. I have a duty to let that joy thrive. And it also means, in my own life, that when it’s not a pleasure, I stop.

That is my single biggest, overarching takeaway from my one-purchase month. When all things fashion (shopping included) are not a pleasure, stop.

Here, I break this into some actionable to-dos I gleaned in my month of only buying one thing: