Bless me, readers, for today I acquired a lot of stuff – clothes, to be specific. It started off this morning at a yard sale, where I found a black, loose-weave silk sweater for a dollar. Who could say “no” to a deal like that? Then in the afternoon I drove to Highland Park to a sample sale organized by my lovely friend Karlee who is an amazing young designer (see Feb 7). I wanted to buy a pair of her baggy tie-dyed pants to help support her line – and because they are super cool and arty and the type of clothes I want to be seen wearing. Completely justifiable to want to support a friend, right? So two new pieces of clothing – not a crime or even a sin, even for someone who is trying to get rid of stuff. However, it didn’t stop there. After the sample sale, I joined a group of female friends for a clothes swap. I was really excited to go to this, as I thought it would fit my Giveaway perfectly. I didn’t have many items to swap (because I’ve been giving so much away this year!) but I figured that I would join in, give away 7 items of clothing and come back with 1 or 2. Ha! I only managed to give away 1 item and came back with 7! That meant I acquired 9 items of clothing today.

Now, that many new items in one day is a bit of a sin for someone like me who is professing to need less stuff and is almost religiously trying to give things away all of this year. Unfortunately, a hair shirt was not one of the items I came home with, so I had to find some other way to atone for today’s acquisitional frenzy. Though my friends and family told me it was fine to have a bit of a splurge and treat myself once and a while, and part of me wanted to believe that, I couldn’t let it rest. I had 9 new clothes, so in my mind I had to get rid of 10. I did what I have done before in weak moments like this. I went into my closet and pulled things off hangers, stuffed 10 pieces of clothing into a bag and rushed over to Out of the Closet just before it closed.

I sometimes wonder if I am going a bit too far with this Giveaway project, but today, I can’t help feeling pleased with the fact that I got some nice new things including some clothes that other people enjoyed giving to me, I was able to support a friend launching her business, and I still had one less item of clothing at the end of the day. I drove back from the thrift store feeling lighter not only physically and morally, maybe even spiritually too.

Hair Shirt, or Cilice, of St Louis at St. Aspais Church, Melun, France (!)