Maria Gracia Responds
Dear WC,
First and foremost, hugs. Before you start doing anything, give yourself a moment to simply breathe. When you go through a break-up, you have to allow yourself time to grieve...and time to begin rebuilding a new life.
Don't be hard on yourself. State positive affirmations to yourself each day. In time, you will get past this and be looking back on it as a stepping stone to whatever future you're going to be paving for yourself.
As far as your depression, if you're not doing so already, consider talking to your doctor or a support group so that you're more easily and effectively able to work on your emotions through this new journey you're about to embark upon. Whatever you do, don't go through this alone. Accept a
listening ear and a shoulder to cry on from family and friends.
As far as downsizing your space, try to see doing so in a positive light. A smaller space means less to clean and less to care for...both of which can be helpful to you during this time.
Don't try to organize "a ton of clothes" as you asked.
Reduce the volume of your clothing to only those clothes that you love, that fit well, and that look fabulous on you.
Determine how many outfits you can comfortably hang in your closet. This will give you an idea of how much clothing, based on your current volume, to which you should bit a fond farewell.
Always think quality. Not quantity. Also keep items that easily mix-and-match with each other so you can get many outfits out of a smaller collection of clothing.
My same advice applies to shoes. How many do you realistically need? Try to limit this number to 10. Organize them on a shoe rack in your closet. Place a cut-up pool noodle in boots to ensure they keep their shape.
As a final note, you may be living in a tiny place, but that doesn't mean you have to live in a cramped space.
Here's your homework. Each day, say goodbye to three items that are not serving you (it doesn't matter if it's a pair of jeans that don't fit quite right, an appliance that you never use, or a book you read that you'll never read again.)
Put these items in a donation box. Once a week, drive these items over to your local donation center.
Don't buy anything that isn't an absolute necessity.
Little by little, your small space won't be so crammed full. And little by little, with a goal of moving on to a new life, your past relationship will be well into the past and you'll be living a new, happier existence.
