…to what, you might ask? Well, whoever invented that saying (a quick google search reveals that the saying is of ambiguous origin) I presume meant that moderation is the key to success in lots of different things.

I’m generally a moderate person. I’ve sometimes been mistakenly thought of as a heavy coffee drink. I’m not, I drink one to one and a half cups of coffee every morning. But I enjoy talking about coffee. In fact, I would venture to say that I enjoy talking about drinking coffee as much as I like drinking coffee. I do adore good coffee, but I savour that one cup and enjoy all it has to offer and beyond with words. Not more coffee.

Same with wine. I love wine and I love drinking wine because it tastes so good. But partly being a light weight and partly being a person who never wants to rely on something to get through my day, a few ounces is plenty. I suppose one could easily surmise that I over-indulge because I absolutely over-indulge in words about wine. I talk about wine all the time. And cocktail making. It’s a hobby and a passion.

So…in those things…moderation is the key to a few things, maybe. Health, independence, self-mastery. Good things.

I’m moderate in most things in my life, but there are a couple of glaring exceptions.

• Enthusiasm (perhaps my best overindulgence)

• Hospitality (sorely lacking these days).

• Emotions (yup…the good, the bad and the ugly)

• Evening wear (I know…why?)

That which I’m immoderate in, well, they may be good and they may not. Enthusiasm is great, but it can lead to disappointment. Hospitality is awesome but it can lead to tiredness. Emotions. I think I just feel too much. It’s awesome when I’m feeling content and happy with my surroundings, my abilities, my inspirations. But it’s nothing short of a super-bummer to have all those emotions when I’m angry or hurt.

Evening wear. You know, I’m definitely moving toward minimalism in clothing. I love that. I’m currently practicing a “six dresses” thing. I have six dresses. I wear one of them every day. That’s all. Simple. I put everything else in storage seasonally. And even that is about two feet’s worth of closet space. However, there is another two feet of closet storage space given over to evening wear. Odd hobby for a homeschool mom, I know. But here’s the thing. I prefer retro-style dresses, or boho-style dresses. But for dressy clothes, like for Balls and Weddings and Going out for Nice Dinners (all of these only happen occasionally BTW) I definitely favour retro-style dresses…from the 1920s-1960s.

Here’s the problem. They don’t go out of style. So I don’t have a lot of turnover. I just want to keep them. Sometimes I feel weird about it, but mostly, when it crosses my mind to downsize the dresses, I just think:

Moderation (in this case, less evening wear) is the key to…what? More closet space in my basement? More retro-clothing for someone else to appreciate in a thrift store? Health? Happiness? Nothing compelling me here.

I don’t know.

I’m trying but I just can’t care. It’s okay. The only moderately compelling argument, I suppose, is that my kids won’t have to go through as much stuff when I die.

That just doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to be moderate about evening wear. I don’t even know why I’m telling y’all this. Therapy, I guess.