Much too good for use

"Now everything must be washed in hot water and soap, because of the children's dirty hands,' said Mrs. Williams, 'and when it is thoroughly dry it must be wrapped in baize and locked up in the strong-room. It is much too good for use." (The Letter of Marque, 1988, Patrick O'Brian)...much too good for use. Where have we heard that before? Do you have china or fabric or napkins or some other heirloom that is "too good" to use? When my grandmother died I received a stack of hand embroidered pillowcases. They must have been 30 years old. They had never been used - they were Too Nice. I promptly washed them and used them. I swore I wasn't going to be like my grandmother, who had nice things but never used them, but I look around me and I see the signs. I work at home, so I don't wear my nicer clothes around the house. Oh no - those are for going out only. Why? I can't dress nicely for just me?
If I were to make a New Year's Resolution, this would be it. No Hoarding. If I have it, use it. I have stacks of beautiful fabric that I don't sew - why? Because it is Too Nice. So who am I saving it for? It's mine. I can do whatever I want with it. No one is going to punish me if I use it for something different that what I originally bought it for. If I don't use it, it will just sit there gathering dust and taking up space (and eventually be sold at my children's mega yard sale for $5.)
These traits run in families. When my son was little, he would only eat half of something and ask to "save it for later".
I used to collect cookbooks, but I found that I only really used about 25 of them, and they were getting out of control, so one day I went through them all and took all of the books that I was sure I would never use and gave them to my brother. He kept some and then happily released the rest into the wild by selling them on half.com. Now someone else is happy with them and I have more shelf space. (I am resisting the urge to fill it back up.) The remaining books I try to use all the time. I try to keep them clean, but I make myself not fret if they accidentally get a splash or a mark on them. That's part of being used; they are mine to use. (The splashes will be seen by my descendants as historical.)
I have to do the same with my closet. It isn't that I don't wear some of my clothes because I don't like them or they don't suit me. I don't wear them - the nicest clothes - because they are Too Nice. I don't sew my favorite fabrics because they are Too Nice. What if I wore clothes I loved every day that were made out of my favorite fabrics? Wouldn't that make me happier to treat myself like I deserved the nice things that I have? I don't have to save them for anyone else. I am not alone in my hoarding. Gretchen Rubin wrote that she saves her new underwear.
When I read that I had that cold shock of recognition. "I do that too!', I thought. And I have to stop that now.
So in the kitchen, I will try to use up all the good stuff every day. In the sewing room I am going to try to use my favorite fabrics FIRST. Because what am I saving it for? Today is all we have, really.
Happy Sewing!