This is a piece about using Feng Shui to help and reflect where you are in life.
While I’ve been the beneficiary of feng shui since first implementing it after reading Terah Kathryn Collins’ book The Western Guide to Feng Shui Room by Room in the winter of 1996 I recently got one of the most important lessons.
One I’ve never encountered before.
I wanted to share because I think it’s an important perspective.
One that may prepare people for how the end result manifests.
It All Began…
Some two years ago this December I began a rather significant decluttering.
The biggest impacts were my home office and the garage.
It so happened that a good friend’s daughters were going to college and had rented a small apartment to share.
They needed a few things.
To my delight I was able to donate pretty much my entire home office along with some things from the garage to the cause.
Uh-oh
Less than a month later I hit a wall.
Complete burnout.
Two months after that I found myself in the ER.
Related to said burnout.
My ability to write was gone so completely I honestly didn’t think I would ever write again.
I did not connect this to donating my home office soup to nuts.
Turn Turn Turn
Purge Purge Purge
Over the next months as I continued to purge I found more and more of my life falling into chaos.
It sucked.
Those familiar with feng shui won’t be surprised.
It sucked.
It was easy enough for me to see the correlation and what got me through was understanding why my life was devolving into ever more chaos.
It sucked.
At the same time I was walking miles a day.
Miles in which I did a tremendous amount of introspection.
Slowly surely I put my health back together.
Next Stop? Level Out.
No more clearing!
Focusing on restoring my health and well-being meant I wasn’t bothering with any other feng shui tweaks. It wasn’t a conscious decision so much as my attention was focused on restoring my health.
And other obligations such as career and family.
Insight Gained.
Round Two.
I recently decided it was time to tackle a few frustrating energy spots in my home.
One of which I’d been trying for years to fix.
My approach is to try to determine the feel of what’s missing.
Put a name to the feeling.
I then think of a color scheme associated with the feeling.
For instance pink might say romance whereas for me red says power and energy. Zing. Purple does not mean royalty though some associate it thusly.
I then look at what is in the area that has the opposite message.
What is pulling this energy away or blocking it from coming in?
I may take something from one energy area and move it to another.
It may pull or block in one but be perfect in another.
Analyze the feeling.
This was perhaps the most important lesson I learned. As I sat working on an upcoming writing project I was semi-distracted by a feeling.
Where’d Everybody Go?
With my attention no longer focused on restoring my health and well-being I became aware that a lot of the items I was used to seeing – used to feeling – were gone.
The great clearing project of 2023!
As I pondered the feelings from the big empty I was reminded of the joke that we get rid of stuff then buy a bigger house so we can get more stuff – the idea being that we get rid of stuff – see the big empty – and fix it.
By getting more stuff!
I consciously resisted getting anything.
For months.
Even as I felt heightened awareness that there was an awful lot of space available.
For more stuff!
Aha!
Because I resisted the urge to fill those spaces with stuff – stayed focused on my upcoming writing project – I was able to determine the next step.
Grounding.
Imagine that you have a space that was being filled by stuff and taking some from – the middle. Why the middle?
I’m illustrating a point.
Depending on various factors the items to the top left and right would move in such a way as to fill in that space – using something natural.
Like gravity.
And like with gravity it all falls into place.
Organize!
Having cleared I had areas of space whereas other areas had items in a jumble.
i.e. candles I have for when we lose power and/or decorate with for various holidays.
As I set about redistributing and organizing I came to realize the benefit. I was grounding energy that had been akimbo since the great clearing!
I’d gone around for months feeling something was off but not knowing how to put a name to it.
As I’m putting the finishing touches on this stage of the tweaks I see that understanding the correlation between feng shui action and reaction isn’t enough. It’s critical to stop and evaluate before trying to fix what isn’t – truthfully – broken.
It wasn’t fun living through the chaos but in giving myself space to go through it I came to see what next steps needed to happen.
Who We Are.
I also came to see the importance of doing clearing when we are going through major life changes. This actually circles back to the advice from feng shui practitioners. Specifically, not holding on to items that have negative associations. But…
It was too vague.
For me at least.
I understood the idea that holding on to things that no longer serve us can cause issues including keeping us locked in an old version of ourselves.
Mentally and emotionally.
I now see that clearing has to happen to allow for inner transformation.
It creates a physical space that is mirrored within us.
As William Bridges explains in his book Transitions** the change may start at the end – not the beginning.
Having clutter – even if it wasn’t underfoot – was clogging up inner space.
Space needed for inner transformations I didn’t even know had to happen in order for me to level up.
The No Plan Plan.
My advice is to sit with any feng shui work and not have a knee-jerk reaction if the results don’t appear to be positive. That chaos? It was a blessing in disguise. That’s because the chaos that ensued after clearing items no longer needed or used had a benefial effect within.
As above so below.
The shifting and organizing was also mirrored.
In my thoughts and feelings which became calmer and more organized.
I gained a better grasp of projects that are important to me as well as which ones needed to be reallocated or delegated to someone else.
Potentially helping them whereas it would only burden me.
I also created healthy boundaries.
A project long overdue.
I felt it a lesson worth sharing.
Knowledge is power. Experience is power to share.
Be well!
**A great read.
Elizabeth Maxim 