Norq From Ork

Every January (and most of Feb, March, April etc) I vow to declutter and reach my goal of having a tidy house with all surfaces clean. It’s not uncommon for me to seek out websites that should help me along on my journey by sending me email reminders (until I  get sick of them and unsubscribe) or find some sort of app or make checklists in new books soon to be discarded. The fact that I start this EVERY January and have done for near enough 25 years probably, shows you I’m not very good at it.  But I am getting better at getting rid of the accumulation of clutter and maybe some day I will have clear surfaces in every room!

Something I read recently during my quest for a streamlined house was this

‘better to donate than accumulate’

Wise words indeed. I often keep stuff thinking some day I’ll sell it (like my wedding dress) and of course never get around to it. All these things do is take up room in my cupboards and drawers and make me feel guilty every time I look at them for not having done something with them sooner. I do take stuff to the charity shop as often as I can though. There’s something very releasing about carting all your unwanted items to a charity shop, and if you can leave without buying a bag full of someone else’s bruck (Orcadian word for rubbish) then it’s quite an achievement.

Yesterday I came across a beautiful idea for donating and reusing your wedding dress and I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to donate mine.

Someone locally was asking for wedding dresses to be sent away and made into tiny little dresses, bonnets and waistcoats etc for babies that are stillborn, died shortly after birth or died late into a pregnancy.

I am very lucky, I had two textbook, perfectly healthy pregnancies, two text book perfectly healthy deliveries and gave birth to two perfectly healthy babies.  I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must be to deliver a baby born sleeping or to have to bury your tiny little newborn baby but I have friends that have had to do that very thing and I have never forgotten.

After speaking to Orkney Beef about my wanting to give to this charity he agreed straight away that I should do it. Less than 24 hours later, my dress which brought so much happiness 5 years ago is ready to go off and be made into little outfits for families who are experiencing so much sadness. This is much more than about making space in your wardrobe. I was so choked as I handed it over and think it really is just the loveliest idea.

A quick internet search showed me there are many different charities that are doing this lovely thing, and lots of very talented seamstresses making these tiny little outifts. Mine is going through a charity called Simba but there are also many more and some with waiting lists.  Sadly there is always going to be a need and one wedding dress can support 8-10 families.  The parents even get a little something made from the fabric as a keepsake.  It was bittersweet to see my beautiful wedding dress go, I absolutely loved it,  but at the same time I was very choked to think about how it was going to be used.

For once this was so much more than making extra space in my home or ticking off something in a shiny new notebook.  It was incredibly moving and touching to be able to pay something forward and make a difference in my own small way.