I was recently asked to participate in a local fashion event called Reluxe.
Organized by two thoughtful, and spiritually awake Montreal powerhouses, Ody Giroux and Isabelle Ethier, the second edition of this event was meant to raise money for a women’s shelter, Le Chaînon, by selling second-hand luxury clothing and accessories during a cocktail party.
The Reluxe team managed to raise $25,000 in one night, a major exploit.
I had the opportunity to visit the shelter back in February and was deeply touched by the women I encountered there. It made me realize that there are a greater number of women on the streets than I thought. From the comfort of my own home, I had not seen these women in these types of dire situations.
What hit me the hardest during my visit, in addition to seeing women carrying their entire belongings in a small plastic bag, was realizing that any one of us can find ourselves in this kind of situation through ill-health, divorce, or the loss of a job. This hit me hard and opened my eyes. We need to treat everyone we meet with kindness and compassion. Who knows what battles or demons others may be facing?
What I appreciated most about this event was cleaning out my closets of the tired stuff that had been there for ages. Lots of baggage. Heavy, emotional baggage in the form of expensive dresses and coats and shoes. Stuff I bought ages ago back when I was trying to convince myself I was someone else. Back when I wore a mask: the mighty professional woman who needed to dress to impress. What startled me was the fact that I was still carrying the heavy burden and energy of all this stuff when the reality was I needed to give it the heave-ho.
Giving away all that stuff was cathartic, cleansing, and refreshing. I feel better for doing it, especially knowing that the sale of these items benefited someone in need.
Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life and a woman I greatly admire, has said that throwing away old stuff is good for our physical and mental health. On her website, she is quoted as saying: “we stuff our closets with clothing and paraphernalia that existed in our lives at one point or another—and many of these items have been entirely forgotten. In our society, clothing is fashion; therefore, it has a temporary reign in our lives. We add one thing after another, and then complain that there’s no more room in our closets. We add, but we forget to subtract as we add…Our closets can be considered symbols of our minds. A cluttered closet could mean a cluttered mind. This same theory can apply to our dresser drawers (or even our desk drawers)—most especially the top drawer, and often the bottom drawer as well.”
So here’s to clearing out the past, clearing out our minds and bodies of old junk, as well as giving generously to others. It’s called good karma and it makes the world a better place.
