Day Eleven: 11 things I don't need. Deadlocks and nose rings.

---------------
Writing Challenge Day 11
I'm doing a 31 day writing challenge, found on the Reverb website, designed to reflect on the past year and look forward to what's to come in 2011.


11 Things. What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

 Simplify. That will be a theme of 2011 for me, I think. I have already started the process of simplifying my life by weeding out the people who aren't good for me. There are a lot of other things I need to simplify, though. Naturally, I tend to hang onto things that a lot of people would probably just throw away, because I think I can find a use for it somehow or make it into an art project. It's annoying. Because it probably won't ever happen.

1. My smoothie obsession. I keep forgetting that smoothies still have a lot of sugar in them - even though they are pretty healthy. Boo. But they're so good!

2. Desire for a nose ring (and a dread). I reallyyy, reallyyyy want a nose ring. A hoop, not a stud. It's just not compatible with my job. I have always wanted one dreadlock on the underneath layer of my hair. I think I'm growing out of that one. I still want a nose ring.

3. Ticket stubs/theater and concert playbills. I love collecting these, because when I find them again, it brings back so many memories. Who I was with when I saw the show. How old I was. What we did before/after. It's nostalgic. It's also taking up a ton of space in my closet. Along with notes I have saved from high school. And cards people give me for my birthday. And drawings and pictures campers and students have made for me. Haha. I am such a "words of affirmation" person, so I hang onto this stuff... but I definitely don't need it. I also have a folder of good AIM conversations that I had saved. They are quite entertaining, but again... not needed.

4. British accents. There are some words I say with a British accent without even thinking. Even though my students tell me it's "cute," it should probably go. (:

5. Magazines. I keep lots of magazines because I think I'm going to do some lovely art project or collage with them. Most likely, that's not going to happen. There are also a lot of old clothes and fabrics that I keep because I want to make something out of them eventually, but they take up so much room.

6. Perfectionism. Everything in my life doesn't have to be perfect. I don't always have to be perfect. I can type that, but I really don't believe it. I've been like that my whole life. It's hard to change. I want to be good at everything I do... but not just good, one of the best.

7. Phone numbers. Mostly people who I shouldn't still be still be in contact with, but I want to talk to anyway. Ugh. It's not good for me.

8. Fear of flying. I don't really know how to get rid of that. It's frustrating because I love to travel, and I fly usually a few times a year, but it still terrifies me.

9. Lots of clothes. Especially painting/hair dying clothes, T-shirts, and unmatching socks. These are all kind of separate, but related enough to keep them together. I have lots of sweatpants/shirts that I always wear when I paint (or dye my hair) because I'm not afraid to get them messy. I probably don't need quite as many scrubby and paint-covered clothing items as I have. I also have about 300 T-shirts. I don't wear 90% of them. They're mostly from volleyball teams and camps, Springhill, Younglife, or trips and vacations. Maybe I need to make another T-shirt blanket. I also have two entire bags of socks that don't have a match and I have no idea why I'm hanging onto them

10. Grinding my teeth. Apparently this is how I relieve stress.

11. Make up. Probably not entirely. I am learning to be okay without it, but it's something that I have always struggled with.

I can actually think of quite a few more, but I'll stop there. Make a list for yourself!