Hanging On To It--Even After A Year

I've read that if you have a piece of clothing that you haven't worn in a year, you should get rid of it. Even the briefest glance into my closet makes it clear that I do not adhere to this rule. This makes for a cluttered closet. It also makes for a very varied and interesting wardrobe, which includes items I return to after years of neglect. Many things work very well, even if you've gone through a year or more thinking you'd never make use of them again.
 
Last week, I began a new part-time gig, doing a variation of the AD work I did for years on the soaps. Over this last year, after the soaps in Connecticut ended (and frankly, for the several years before that, after the soaps on ABC ended), I had just about come to the conclusion that it was time to abandon that AD skill set, much as you'd abandon that piece of clothing that had hung in the closet unworn. After week one of this new gig, I thought perhaps I was wrong to think I could go back--did the skill set still fit me? Today, as I "tried it on" again (it is just a two-day-a-week gig), I realized that it was like the sweater that you love, but haven't donned in a while. Suddenly, I felt the competence and excitement and joy that this skill set had given me, just like the feeling that a long-time favorite garment gives you when you rediscover it. And from all appearances, it seems as though people thought it "looked good" on me. Had I given this skill set up after a year of non-use, I would never have gotten to today. Had I not "tried on" my AD life again, I wouldn't have rediscovered the warmth and fit of something that had felt good for so long.
 
Sometimes it takes holding on to something for a while until it "works" again. And sometimes, it takes trying it on again and giving it a real chance before pronouncing it "out of date." I'll be keeping some of my old favorites--both skill sets and clothing items--for a while, whether I'm currently "wearing" them or not. Because surrounding yourself with what you love--and with what feels good--never goes out of style.