It has been 13 enjoyable months living aboard Orion now and we have come full circle through all the seasons. Having said this and still in winter it has become noticeable that it is time to do some much required purging.......ugh. One of my least favorite things to do!

Our motto to sustain happiness in our small space without being overcome by stuff is "buy an item, take one off the boat.” Sounds very simple and entirely logical right? However, these two criteria are not easily compatible when it comes to some of the “stuff!” Throughout winter I seem to knowingly still acquire without following the motto to the letter. Certainly when buying kitchen ware, & gadgets it is easy to live by the motto. Take our old worn out pots for example, I eagerly removed those from the boat to replace them with our nice shiny new ones!

For me, winter clothes is an entirely different thing. Our space aboard requires that we share a small hanging closet and inside we each have several shelves to hold non-hanging items. Darren follows our motto to the letter when it comes to his closet space. You can see his clothes easily, neatly organized on the shelves, and if he feels it is getting unruly, he sits down and purges. Just like that. No muss, no fuss, he just does it. Whereas I purchase winter clothes and selectively choose not to follow our motto at all! My energy is then spent creatively tucking, rolling and squeezing my new items into my defined small space hoping that he doesn't notice! Truth be told he does notice and it probably drives him crazy, but thankfully he bites his tongue hoping I will learn by his example!

So it has come to that dreaded point now that I cannot tuck, roll or squeeze anything else into my designated space. I must purge too. I admire that he makes no muss or fuss when doing this task, whereas for me it is like pulling teeth! Why is it so much easier to purge pots, dish cloths, spices etc and not clothes? I certainly don't feel attached to my clothes, but I do love the comfort they provide me in winter.

Thankfully spring and summer are just around the corner, where the bulky clothes are replaced with shorts, t-shirts and flip flops and they make my part of the closet look good!!!!!!