Feng Shui Articles

In the beginning I had thought of Feng Shui as just a bunch of silliness. This notion had stayed with me till I had flipped through a Feng Shui book and seen that I had several of the classic mistakes that singles tend to make in their homes that have the energy affect of almost sealing in the existing single energy and working against the single moving toward new relationships.

Once I became aware of these decorating tendencies in my own environment I was faced with a new set of challenges. I was faced with a fear that making changes in my home might change things. What if changing how I decorated really did change the energy and brought new people into my life - what then? I found myself resistant to making the changes Feng Shui principles might suggest for I was afraid they just might work.

The reality I had to face in order to grow was that part of me wanted to block new relationships from coming into my life for a was so afraid of getting hurt again. Better to be alone than to be hurt. I wanted the love but not the potential pain. In order to deal with my stuff problem I had to face the reality that I liked using my stuff as a block.

When I first learned about Feng Shui I set about trying to implement certain easy changes such as placing my frames, candles and photos in grouping. I got rid of old photos and memorabilia from relationships that had been non-positive. I started separating some of my older less desirable items into boxes to be taken to consignment shops or to be donated to charity. I tried to be more organized and less cluttered. Yet, somehow every time things started to move in my life socially I had this over whelming desire to want to throw a ton of stuff by my front door or in my car. And, even though I knew that my writing and love life had been hotter with my old furniture placing I resisted making the changes back to what had increased my energies.

I watched as the boxes of stuff to be leaving my home never left and I watched as I let certain areas become cluttered again. I found myself having this desire to want to save some of the old items I knew were best out of my life. Surely the white slightly sheer top with the light blue and light lavender stripes that I had been given on my 13th B-day would come back in style. It was tight in the chest area. However, it was about to be going on 20 years old so I was betting it might be in style next month so I had better save it. This was not just a top - this was a vintage 80's mint condition top given to me on my 13th B-day. As a thirty something should I not relish the fact that I had saved some items from my youth? Luckily, I came to my senses and saw that there is a time and place for everything and this shirt belonged to a different time and different place.

As a fought with myself over getting rid of the stuff, I had to admit that I was using my stuff to be trapped and blocked. Having admitted this I felt free to explore what Feng Shui might say about my old bedroom furniture placement. So, to the books I went. I was to find that when I laid a Bagua Map over my bedroom and apartment layout I was to see that I had initially had my bed in the section attributed to love and marriage and my computer in the knowledge section. When I moved things around I had reversed placements and blocked the natural energy that was coming to me.

Some might see it that it as an accident that I had sabotaged my love and writing life with my room placements. As I have grown older I have learned to see that all things happen for a reason and that at times we choose what appears to be a lesser or more complicated road because of issues we are facing within ourselves. What we tend to choose to do in a given moment tends to be based on what we on some level perceive to be in our best interests at that time. If we want to burst forth in our true potential we have to embrace the responsibility of admitting and changing the ways in which we screw ourselves over in self-sabotage.

Maybe the party who chooses to let stuff be a block between themselves and others does so because that is what the party needs to do in a time period. Maybe the person who sets about to work against the natural flow of energy in their homes and in their lives does so because at the time they felt unworthy of the blessings that might come to them. We all have within us the power to improve our lives if we choose to do so by how we live. All empowerment comes from within.

I still fight my extreme clutter tendency - However, I have moved the furniture to maximize where I want to be in my life. I accept that I am worthy of going where I want to go and of not having to create additional obstacles of energy to prove myself worthy of the prize of a happy life.

Questions to think about:

-- Do you hold on to stuff that is past it’s time and benefit in your life in order to keep a memory alive? What are the costs of keeping such an item or items in your possession? If there was a fire and you lost this item or items do you think your life would really change in any way?

-- Do you use stuff or the managing of stuff as a block to living your life in any way? Do you find that the things you own tend to take up more of your life energy than they are worth? Might it be wise to evaluate scaling down the items in your life that occupy resources that you would rather use elsewhere?

-- Do you use your things to insulate you from any sort of feelings or fears? Would being less of a clutter bug make you more efficient and productive in your personal and professional life? If so - what is the hold up?

© Desiree A. Krautkramer