It’s so funny how what seems like a boring, mundane task can spark an “aha” moment – you know, those projects that you just DREAD but once you get started launches you into super-duper action down a path that you hadn’t thought of before. Like organizing shelves and then you get an idea for rearranging the whole room! Well, that lightbulb flashed for me just last week, and in the midst of one project my MIND started MAPPING a whole new idea …
So, let me back up two steps. I remember the first time I heard the term “Mind Map” – from a group of grad students I was working with – and I was both fascinated and skeptical. It immediately resonated with me on one level, and yet it sounded so “new age-y,” or like some professor was trying too hard. Is it just millennial-speak for an old-fashioned “Thesis Outline” – I mean c’mon, really? Or just another one of the new fancy terms that are popping up for the same solid, educational building blocks that have stood the test of time: “STEM,” (good o’ math and science and computer classes); “Flipped Classrooms,” (read/watch the lecture at home, do the problems in class) or “Makerspaces” (ever heard of shop class, people??), to name a few. What’s next, “Mindful Physics?”
But as I’ve learned more about it, I think the Mind Map concept is a super cool tool for students of all ages to craft a creative approach to brainstorming and idea formation. Whether for fun or for school or work, a Mind Map allows your brain to take a different path when fleshing out a concept. Using images, keywords, color, curved and connected lines/branches representing an idea and connecting one concept to the next, Mind Maps are visual representations of an intellectual/mental concept. So, I stand corrected! (For more info on Mind Maps, click here.)
But right now, my girlfriends out there are wondering just how Mind Maps apply to my day-to-day gigs, inspirations, and fashion? And more specifically, my closet? Well, during my super-duper closet “re-do” last week (check out my photos on FB or IG), I found myself not just organizing and sorting, categorizing and tossing – but also taking some mental notes about the items I was wading through. And, going down memory lane at the same time …
I found myself marveling over the persimmon-orange Monique Lhullier gown that I’ve had for 15 years, which I can’t quite zip all the way up anymore but can’t bear to part with because it is LITERALLY the most beautiful thing I own. Which then reminded me of my gold strappy Manolos, which were the FIRST pair of designer shoes I ever bought (to wear with that dress, of course) for a benefit fundraiser that I co-chaired. Sitting on the floor of my closet, I smiled remembering that night … it raised nearly $1.5 million, was emceed by the hilarious morning crew from the city’s number one radio show, featured a surprise live auction item offering a line in the next animated Pixar movie that went for $100k, blew out the hotel’s ballroom with the disco after-party, and ended up with the president of the board asleep under a table at 2am. And that, girlfriends, was a heck of a shindig! They just don’t do galas like they used to, ladies!
Then I discovered 17 pairs of “work” pants with four – that’s right, FOUR – of the EXACT SAME pair in different colors. There’s a lot to unpack here, friends. First of all, I call them “work” pants to distinguish them from, um, other pants? Basically, I mean pants that I wear when I go out to meetings. When my girls were little, if I came downstairs in anything other than leggings or jeans, they immediately asked, “Do you have a meeting today, Mommy?” Yep, when I’m home I like to be in my cozies. And considering I mostly work from home, this pretty much means 24/7. It’s like the FB post I saw the other day that said “It’s 5pm, which means it’s time to change out of my day-time leggings and put on my night-time leggings.” I know that many people will consider this to be lame, and that we should all be getting up in the morning, showering and hair and make-up, dressing for “work,” and keeping some semblance of a functional routine. Others wear their professional clothes on top (shirt and jacket for video conference calls) and “go casual” on the bottom. But hey, I just believe in efficiency and not wasting energy. Leggings and hair up in a bun is my go-to, ya’ll!
But I digress … so, my “work” pants are the ones I wear with cool button-down silky tops and pair with some kick-ass heels – my “I GET SHIT DONE, WITH STYLE” outfits. And since I’ve been working from home for, like, the last 13 years, you may wonder why I have so many pairs of these infamous “work” pants. Yeah, I wondered, too … hold that thought for a sec.
And then there are the items in my closet that I keep because of a POTENTIAL event somewhere in the hazy gazy future. You got that right – not for an actual, upcoming event that is on the schedule, but for a possible, imaginable, potential opportunity that may or may not happen but in the .0002% chance that it COULD happen will obviously require this exact dress or hat or shoes. Or gloves. GLOVES! Who actually wears fancy gloves anymore? (I mean real people living real lives, not those swanky people.) And to where, exactly? Not the fluffy or thin-sulate gloves, either. These are those beautiful, soft, gray leather gloves with pearl buttons that you might wear to brunch or tea at a duke’s country estate. Because yeah, that’s definitely got a chance of happening. But if it did – get outta the way ‘cause I’ve got the gloves, sister!
So now let’s circle back to the Mind Mapping. Ultimately, I was so fascinated by what I came across in my re-do – representing all of the years and phases and chapters of my life – that I made a Mind Map of my closet space. A hand-drawn image of me, sitting cross-legged in the center, with branches on all sides to HATS, SHOES, TOPS, PANTS (jeans, casual, “work”), DRESSES (casual, summer, dressy, gala). Sub-branches to how many, what colors, favorites, “skinny,” etc. etc. You get the picture – and I’m no artist, believe me! But it was fun! Not only was it an engaging project that exercised a sleepy part of my brain, but it also resulted in a few conclusions about myself. Some self-realizations, shall we say? There’s a lot it revealed, but here are a few nuggets:
- I still hold onto poignant things from my past because they hold the MEMORIES, the stories, of my life. I’m sentimental that way, and you can see it in my closet.
- I LOVE my “work” clothes … which tells me that I really love having a career. It gives me a sense of purpose, and accomplishment, and pride. So I decided that instead of seeing it as just “work,” I’ll choose to see it as a positive, meaningful expression of WHO I AM. And, I promise myself that I will prioritize the projects that are fulfilling to me and my goals in life, and confidently move things forward in the direction I want to go.
- And finally, as ludicrous as it sounds – and it really makes me laugh at myself – I have some items because of a POTENTIAL event somewhere in the future. Which tells me that despite my “down” days, I really, truly, am an optimist. I look at the glass as half full, because I believe that life is full of surprises and dreams do come true. Who knows when that duchess is going to invite me to lunch?? Am I right?
And just like that, my Mind Map popped into mental technicolor view. Our closets turn out to be a psychological glimpse into who we are … and I don’t mean organized or cluttered, OCD or slobs … but an expression of our personality and individuality, our memories and the things we hold dear, our present chapter in life and how we choose spend our time. And, most importantly, it reveals that we hold on to hopes and dreams for our future, those adventures out there just waiting for us to arrive.