capsule wardrobe

I believe most people who have gone to college will agree with me when I say that a lot of collegians feel like nomads. You're never in one place for long before you move to off campus housing or another temporary apartment for the year. Every single time I've move out of an apartment, I'm astonished and frustrated at how much stuff I've accumulated over a short period of time. It took me forever to move out of my grad school apartment (having a large room to myself probably didn't help), but I was pleasantly surprised at how I was able to survive quite comfortably without a lot of my belongings for about half the quarter.

When I went to Europe I had to live out of a 46 liter backpack for 9 weeks, so I limited myself to 8 pieces of clothing: 3 shirts, 1 dress, 1 skirt, 1 pair of jeans, 1 light rain jacket, and 1 pair of Converse sneakers. I also packed a shirt and a pair of shorts for sleeping, as well as shower shoes, so we can call it 11 total pieces utilized if you want. Yes, this meant I was doing laundry every night in hostel sinks, but it did show me how little I actually need. 

As a result, I've been thinking a bit about how I can live a more minimalistic lifestyle, starting with clothing because it's easier to control despite my lack of income right now (thank you, Thrift Trader). I think I'm also reaching the stage in life where I prefer to invest in a few quality pieces rather than a ton of cheap things.  As a last note, I would like to say that I'm not doing this for the sake of self-abasement or asceticism (see Colossians 2:20-23), but rather to challenge myself to think more creatively about how I can better utilize what I have now. Also, the second half of the previous sentence pretty much sums up my motivation for being an engineer. 

What is a capsule wardrobe? It is a limited set of clothing and accessories (usually around 30 pieces) that make up one's entire set of outfits. Basic premise: choose your "essentials" wisely.  Naturally, the best things to include in a capsule wardrobe would be pieces that you absolutely love and ones that can be mixed and matched easily. I'm not going to be traveling anytime soon, so I'll try to keep my limit to about 30 in this exercise.

Main goals: 

1. Establish a complete wardrobe that offers variety based on cohesiveness, not quantity. 
2. Find a good balance between neutrals and accent pieces, and identify any unusual color biases. I tend to have a lot of black and blue things, but then end up with a disproportionate amount of other random colors when I try to add variety. Personally, I wouldn't mind having only neutrals and subdued colors, but I also want to find out if I can incorporate the few random pieces I do have.
3. Cut down on repeats. I KNOW I have a problem when it comes to jackets and coats. 
4. Figure out what I'm lacking. 

Preliminary capsule wardrobe:

35 items total. Not too bad.

Lessons/realizations:

1. Just a few non-neutral colors, so I'm happy about the "mixability" of this set. There is also a decent assortment of patterns and solids, though I'm not sure how I feel about having both the navy striped sweater and the solid navy sweater. I also had a friend yell at me for improperly mixing the white/blue colorblock skirt with a patterned shirt, so that probably has to go too. 
2. Need more pants, particularly a black pair. 
3. I really like simple classic styles, which is why I have all these collared shirts and sweaters. Not sure if this means I should continue working on this preppy grandfather look, or if I should incorporate more flowy and drapey shapes (or just something without buttons). I'm thinking a solid dark gray v-neck would be a good addition. 
4. Surprisingly more shoes than I expected. I'm not really a shoe person, but I wouldn't mind swapping out one or two of my current pairs for some legit oxfords. 
5. Need to add "nice watch" to the miscellaneous section. 
6. So many jackets... and four of them are black!  I don't even have a practical reason to wear a trench coat on most days; I think I'm only holding onto it for sentimental reasons. I'm considering swapping out some items out for a light colored blazer. 

subtleties

I'm currently reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again and just reached the point where Peter and Susan tell the Professor about Lucy's stories of Narnia.  They're confused because Lucy seems to be making up strange stories, even though she's not crazy and has always been truthful. The Professor then says,

"Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth."

Glad I'm able to catch these apologetic details this time around :)

funemployment sanctification and getting what i asked for

When I first came back from Europe, a lot of people asked me, "has it been hard transitioning back?" The answer was always "no" because I assumed they were asking if I was tired or if I missed traveling. I didn't struggle with jet lag because of carefully allotted nap times on my flight back, and I was still eating, sleeping, and reading things like I did in Europe. No problems there.

On a surface level, it has been fine and dandy. But I'm slowly realizing that transitioning my heart back to reality has been much more difficult. When you're a free-spirited traveler, ain't nothing gonna hold you down.  You start dreaming about all the places you could travel to and all the things you could do, you laugh at all the things you don't have to do, and you forget where your real home is.

Let's look at some of the things Paul wrote to the Philippians:

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

"But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake."

What do I desire? Do I value Christ above all the gifts and blessings of this world? Do I look forward to heaven and being with Christ, my Lord and Savior? Am I excited to know that my joy will be complete when I get to spend a sinless eternity worshipping God? Do I really believe that it is better to be with Christ? That when I have nothing, all I have is Christ?

Uh...

So in this current season of unemployment, I am thankful that God doesn't give me what I want when I want it, especially since He knows I have to change a few priorities. 

When I originally chose to go backpacking instead of looking for a job, I told myself that I wanted to learn how to be content with uncertainty and not knowing what I would do after I graduated. It all sounds delightfully holy and spiritual, until you find yourself freaking out over rejections and saying, "okay God, you can stop sanctifying me through trials now..."

It is so important to learn how to be content, both in plenty and in lacking. What if I seek to find my worth in a job, don't get it, and then fall apart? What if I get an awesome job and let it go to my head and praise myself? Either way, the problem comes from finding security in things other than God.

A few years ago I was terrified that I wouldn’t get accepted into any grad schools, so I wrote a list of some blessed failures. I've added a few more points to the list, and it always makes me chuckle when I think about how silly my anxiety is. The point of this list isn’t to show that that every failure will produce a better blessing, but rather that God is the same good God yesterday, today, and forever, and is more than sufficient for our souls.  

• Rejected from competitive Berkeley (which I was depending on to be my salvation from home), attends amazing UCSD.
• Lazy in church hopping, unknowingly ends up at church with sound doctrine and Gospel-centered fellowship.
• Vows to never be friends with “intimidating and aloof” robot team captain, now super good friends.
• Church split is hard, grows much at RGC.
• Rejected from every single internship except one (EK), now super spoiled at EK.
• No car to drive to summer school at 8AM, makes new friend in Christ (roommate of a neighbor who randomly invited me over for dinner).
• Really surprising rejection from matsci lab after being assured the position after working for a year to get it, realizes true passion is in thermal-fluids.
• False hope from Boeing (LA), stays in SD for the summer, gets 2 new positions at work and goes on first business trip to Florida.
• Failed Chinese placement test Fall 2011, realizes 2nd week that there never would have been enough time to study for it because of robot project.
• Not placed with desired teammates for 156B because of scheduling issue, has awesome new team members.
• Completely bombed job interview with sensor company and rejected from two fluid mechanics internships, gets to do propulsion research with NASA. 
• Caused a devastating diesel spill accident at lab because I forgot to turn off the fuel, but discovers a simple and novel way to solve a problem I struggled with for 3 months during the clean up process. 

I know this won't be the last time I'll have to struggle and wrestle with uncertainty and fear of the future, but I have full confidence knowing that He who began a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.