Yesterday I threw out my temple clothing.
Since my shelf fell with Prop 8 in 2008, I have shed many of the trappings of mormonism.
I quit wearing garments, stopped accepting callings, stopped going to sunday school and priesthood meeting. Those have been replaced by worship at the Church of Home Depot and meditation/naps in the car while waiting for DW.
After all of that, I couldn't bring myself to actually get rid of that suitcase holding my temple gear. In my mind some vestigial sacredness clung to it.
Until this past weekend. I was cleaning the closet and there was the suitcase.
It was time. I tossed it on the pile for the dumpster.
No doubt. No reservation. No fear.
Monday morning it went in the dumpster and a pile of wet leaves on top to hold it down. I walked away with a smile that lasted all day.
One more trapping of mormonism shed.

Yes, isn't it interesting that the temple costume held so much power over us for so long? Congrats! I love the wet leaves image.

I would have kept one pair of garments as a conversation piece. Color the markings with a red Sharpie so you can explain Emma's red thread on the original garmies.

Yes, there are some reasons to keep them, but they don't equal the the mental burden that has been lifted.

Yay for you!! One less person that will be buried in their temple clothes when they pass away like my ultra TBM parents plan on doing.

I did the same thing a couple of years ago. The temple clothes were in an overnight bag. But, first, to confirm my suspicions, I showed them to my Nevermo relatives. The looks on their faces said volumes! Finally, one said, "just burn them!"

I seriously considered his idea, but that was too normal for fetish gear too bizarre. So, I kept them in my car.

One afternoon, while driving through Las Vegas, I saw a dumpster. One of those dirty, messy, stinky ones; it was the perfect depository. It was emblematic of the underbelly of Vegas itself--cheap and tawdry, filled with broken dreams and despair and a total summation of my time in Mormonism. With a gentle swing of my arm, my temple load landed in a pile of rotting food and debris, surrounded by maggots.

Being a polyester blend, the robe, sash, hat, and apron will probably outlive me somewhere in a landfill. But damn, it felt good to get rid of that shit!

Good one Boner!
So cathartic.

Congratulations!
I got rid of my garments -- took me a few years! I too put them in the trash! Then I watched them go into the dumpster! Put a bounce in my step and a good chuckle for hours! It amounted to a little ritual that I needed to perform! It's a kind of cleansing!
Don't know why it's so hard to dump that stuff.....that reminds me, I still have a small shoe box in a top shelf with some temple items in it. Kept them for some strange reason. But, it's time to let them go. Thanks for the reminder!

Hi Susie,
I read somewhere, maybe a poster here said "It's like taking off a thick wool coat on a summer day."
That says it all.

rutabaga Wrote:
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> Hi Susie,
> I read somewhere, maybe a poster here said "It's
> like taking off a thick wool coat on a summer
> day."
> That says it all.

That works!!
I referred to the whole of Mormonism like wearing a dress that was the wrong size, waist too high, sleeves too tight, very uncomfortable! That included the garments as they never fit correctly!

Cagey ole Joe knew, as he formed his clique, that having his members on the same page and bound by stuff, such as garments, they would feel a connection. I also kept my garments for a time before being able to toss them to the wind.

Perhaps some skunk rummaging through the landfill in your area, looking for a midnight snack, will pop up wearing a piece of your temple costume draped over his torso only to have his mate ask, "What the hell is that?" Congrats on throwing this rubbish out where it belongs.

ROLF!

rutabaga Wrote:
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> I walked away with a smile that lasted all day.
>

You mean forever, right? Shed the white and allow the light!

I have to admit, my smile dimmed a bit when my car wouldn't start at quitting time.
But I'm back in my happy place now!

Pawn to Q4?

Chess is on my bucket list.

I don't remember exactly what date I wrote my resignation letter, but it was in the first week of December, 12 years ago, so the anniversary is coming up.

I had quit attending for some time before that, and quit wearing the garmies. My barely 18-year-old daughter resigned the same day I did, and while she never wore garmies, she insisted that we had to go underwear shopping at Victoria's Secret.

We had a GREAT time!

I kept my garmies in a paper grocery sack, buried at the bottom of my closet, for quite some time before finally tossing them in the trash. No regrets or fond farewells.

Good for you!

I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one who felt a buzz when I got rid of my garments. It was almost 9 years ago, but I still can visualize the garments in the trash, with banana peels and coffee grounds. I emptied the yucky cat litter on top of them--that was the point of no return.

I love your visual of the leaves! I love that you dumped the whole suitcase.

I drank the coffee (my third cup of coffee, ever), by the window, and watched the garbage truck unceremoniously pick up my trash can with its arm, dump it all out, and drive it all away, out of my life. Buh-bye!

I remember the first time I saw a photo of the temple clothing, I thought how bizarre the outfits look. It's almost as if someone was trying to come up with ugly, unflattering outfits on purpose. I think you could a lot of prospective converts off to the church merely by showing a photo and saying, "One year from now you could be wearing this in the temple."

Congratulations on chucking them, Rutabaga.

Somewhere, dump/dumpster divers are finding suitcases, thinking they might have something cool and accidentally thrown away in them.
Then they open them, find strange robes, funny hats with little plastic "stiffeners," green silky aprons embroidered with odd leaves, and white socks.

"What the hell?" is heard repeatedly.

Thanks for all of the responses.
I'm still in my happy place this morning. Looking forward to a life without that black suitcase with its reproachful stare from the closet.

Yup the sure sign you been nailed....by the three necrophites...dam car wont start...say three hail marys...toss salt over your shoulder...give a black cat a piece of your sammich....kick your car square in the fuel tank...shell fire right up...guaranteed to work...but you must send me forty three dollars and keep passing this woo woo on....dont break the chain of p hood..not even the three necrophites can withstand this woo woo...their specialty is flat tires and widows with pies cooling on the window sill...the salt gets em every time

You are correct Trails End. I didn't factor the blowback.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2016 02:23PM by rutabaga.

I'm so glad I got out before I had a chance to wear temple garments. I missed out on years of ugly, weirdness and being controlled.

Oh bad move. You never know when you're going to be invited to a toga party. A few years back I was invited to a murder mystery dinner that was Grecian themed. I had a plain white dress that I put the women's pleated robe over and then got gold braid to adorn it with. Found some old sandals that went up high on the leg at Salvation Army and spray painted them gold. It turned out really cool. There wasn't anyone at the party who had a clue what that robe was and everyone was asking. They thought it was something I got from a costume shop and that it really was meant to be a woman's greek toga. So telling the story about what it was turned out to be the hit of the party. A actually had one person tell me, "You're making that up." No. You CAN NOT make that shit up. So I pulled out my cell phone and quickly proved my story.

they sat in my closet for 8 years. I guess I overlooked the invitation.

But it was just my stomach turning when I realized the reason my wife wasn't wearing her garments was not because she finally saw the light, but that she had just seen her doctor. She doesn't like to wear her garments for exams.

I kept one pair of one piece funny under wear because every now and then my mormon past gets mentioned. People ask to see them. More than a few have asked to have sex with me while wearing them. Who am I to deny them? Lol