Every once in a while I still catch myself doing something that makes absolutely no sense. Today’s epiphany was that I have two separate stacks of microfiber cleaning cloths. I have my “good” stack and my “old” stack. I use these cloths for everything – dusting, cleaning the kitchen, wiping up in the bathroom, as handkerchiefs, cleaning the floor, drying my hands, placemats, etc. Each week, I throw the dirty ones in the wash, replace them with clean ones and then meticulously fold, sort and stack the freshly washed ones onto their respective piles. I try to use the old ones for greasier cleanups and the “good” ones for cleaner jobs.
I’ve been doing this every week for 5 years.
Suddenly, today as I was going through my routine I thought – What the f*** am I doing? These are microfiber cloths that cost less than $20 for the two 12 packs I bought years ago. What am I saving the good ones for?
I laughed at myself and then made one big stack to use going forward. If a particular cloth gets extra greasy or disgusting, I’ll throw it out.
I think this comes from growing up poor. When I was a little kid I had school/church clothes and play clothes. My school/church clothes were only worn there. When I got home, they had to come off immediately to be replaced with play clothes. That was fine with me because my play clothes were more comfortable and cooler looking. I preferred wearing grass stained jeans and old t-shirts to anything that was suitable for school or work.
When I was a preteen and teen, I could wear whatever I wanted to school and when I was hanging out with friends. I didn’t have much, but I had my favorites like two good pairs of Levi jeans, my favorite shirt for going out dancing, my new sneakers, etc. I would “save” these for special occasions when I wanted to impress my peers or (attempt to) pick up chicks.
That “saving my favorite things” for special occasions continued until I was in my 40s. I’d wear clothes and use stuff that I owned, but didn’t love, everyday. Then I’d break out my favorites for date nights with my wife, holidays, job interviews, events etc.
This changed when I stumbled across minimalism blogs and read somewhere – “What if everything you owned was your favorite?”
That one questions sparked a complete life change for me.
I got rid of everything that wasn’t my favorite. I wore clothes that were comfortable, looked good and made me feel great. I got rid of all my crappy, substandard tools and only used my best ones. I stopped having on to boxes of old clothes, spare items and storage rooms full of “just in case” backups that I hadn’t even seen in years.
I’d think, after embracing a minimalistic lifestyle for 15 years, that it would be ingrained in me. And it is, to a great extent. But every so often I realize that crap has crept up without me noticing. Maybe I need to throw out my old shoes. Or get rid of the chewed up drumsticks I haven’t used in two years. Or stop hoarding my good washcloths.
For me, the lesson is to remind myself to occasionally question the routine things I do every day that having become so habitual that I don’t even pause to consider there might be a better way.
Sometimes there is a better way. Sometimes, I find my old way worked just fine and return to it.