Project 333: The Why

If you’re just joining me, I’m currently participating in Project 333 an online challenge to wear only thirty-three items for a three month period.  The idea is that all your clothing can fit into one suitcase or “capsule.”  Therefore, the clothes you choose to include for your three months is called a “capsule wardrobe.”  

I’m choosing to do this for very specific reasons.  Minimalism is, apparently, in vogue right now, but I didn’t know that until I started this project.  Actually, that fact almost turned me away from doing it at all!  (Here’s where it gets personal, people!)  You see, I have used clothes for years in a desperate attempt to appear “cool.”  I have chased “cool” most of my life, in fact.  Ever since my crush, John King, told me in the fourth grade that I was a “hell no” girl (yup, this was in the fourth grade!) I’ve had a bit of a complex about my appearance, my “cool,” and generally my worthiness to be loved (I know, I know.  Boohoo.  This post gets happier, so stay with me!).  

BUT GOD.  But God found a way for me to realize how silly this really was.  He, in His infinite wisdom gave me my wonderful, adorable daughter.  Through pregnancy and being a momma to her, I am coming to learn that, sob, it’s not all about me!  

Yeah, yeah.  We all know I love Jesus...what’s that got to do with clothes?  I was still focusing on ME.  Me, me, me.  How will I appear to people?  Do I look like I tried too hard (the answer to this, by the way, is this: if you stood in front of your mirror for two hours, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU TRIED TOO HARD!)?  Do I look sexy enough?  Do I look conservative enough?  I’m wearing green, but my eyes are blue...is that okay?  It’s really laughable!  I was buying lots of clothes, wearing only a few things, feeling good in practically nothing, and spending way too much time thinking about my own appearance.  You know what the Bible calls that?  Vanity.

So, what do I hope to get out of Project 333?  Let’s face it.  It’s fun to challenge myself in this way.  I get to play with my clothes in a way I’ve never done before.  I get to pack things away so that, hopefully, I feel like I’m getting new clothes when I create a new capsule.  If I’m not spending money on a bunch of low quality items all the time, maybe I can save up and treat myself to one truly nice thing every once in awhile.  I really expect to enjoy the whole thing, but it’s more than that.  The long and the short of it is this: worrying about clothes and my appearance in general has taken enough of my time and money.  What could I do with the time and money I’ll save when I forget about it?  

We’re about to find out, people!