Closet and Soul

Closet and Soul

            My friend Theresa believes you can check the health of a woman’s soul by the state of her closet. Not the brands of clothing or even the styles, but the way it is kept. Are things in order, put away, folded and hung?

            My closet looks like a land mine exploded and spewed clothes to all corners. I have things hanging willy nilly on hooks, dangling from shelves, and covering the floor. Usually coinciding with the closet eruption is the toiletry explosion. This is when my side of the vanity is scattered with makeup, face cleanser, moisturizers, hairbrushes, hair bands and clips, toothpaste, and notes to myself and a bottle of water.  

            This is not how I like things to be, nor does my husband. I can shut the door to my closet if it gets really bad, but my junk edges over into his space on the vanity, forcing him to push a hair dryer chord out of the way in order to wash his hands.

I much prefer a neat environment and in fact, the rest of the house will be quite straight and uncluttered while my closet is a mess. And that is exactly the heart of my friend’s theory. We can keep things going on the outside, all the “seen” parts, but sometimes let things get out of order on the inside. 

            It has been a whirlwind week and my closet is showing it.  Two sets of houseguests, dinner for 30, daily meetings, decisions and responsibilities, and preparation for a writer’s conference have overwhelmed me. I’ve thrown clothes everywhere, feeling there was no time to hang, fold, or straighten. Or maybe it was some vain attempt to throw off the extra stress.

Saying goodbye to the last guest and concluding the last meeting doesn’t automatically fix things. My closet is still a disaster and my soul is still in hyper active mode.

I wish I knew how to keep from having such a wild few days, but sometimes things are out of our control. Events converge to create temporary insanity. More often than not, several activities will hit on the same weekend while the next weekend goes completely unscheduled. Even with the best attempts at creating margin in our lives, it is not always possible.  

However, I do know how to hang up my shirts, fold pants and put away shoes. I can put my hairbrushes and clips in a drawer, along with the hairdryer. I can throw my cleansers and creams in a basket and put the notes to myself in the day planner.

These simple things won’t fix all the stresses in life, but it does make my soul feel better.