Due to an oil spill in our house a while back, my husband and I were evacuated to a hotel for 35 days. With our dog.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

One thing I’ll never forget is having such a limited wardrobe to pick from. ?All of our clothes were sent to the cleaners to remove the odor of oil.

I had 3 pairs of pants, 6 tops, a pair of sneakers, one pair of black shoes and one pair of brown. I’m a bit of a pack rat when it comes to clothes, so I thought it was going to be a nightmare having so little to choose from. It turned out to be quite liberating. It saved a lot of time too. I didn’t have to stand in front of the closet wasting precious minutes wondering what to wear.

When we moved back into the house and the cleaner returned our clothes, the first thing I did was determine whether or not I really needed each item. I say “needed” and not wanted because the two are very different things.

Cleaning?up your surroundings, whether it’s your cache of clothes or your kitchen table (hope my husband isn’t reading this because that’s his pet peeve), is a huge?stress?buster. Whenever we see clutter, it causes us to feel anxious and stressed out. ?Our?natural?instincts want us to live in a harmonious, healthy environment. Spring cleaning clears out not only your physical environment, but your emotional one as well.

So the next time your stuff starts piling up, call your local charitable pick up service and donate the things you don’t need to someone who does.