Change comes, one page at a time...
Have you ever read a book that changed your life? Let me tell you about the book that changed mine.
I was working at Wonderworks
(a sweet bookstore I used to manage) when a book caught my eye. The
title was "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" by Karen Kingston, and I
brought it along to lunch one day, and the next day, and the next. I
had always been curious about Feng Shui, but this was the first book I
read that made any sense to me.
I was relieved to find the book
an easy read and enjoyed imagining my space being clutter-free. I had
a feeling that this book would become like all the other half-read self
help books on my shelf, never leaving the realm of my imagination to
take root in my life. Needless to say, I was wrong.
A few weeks
after reading "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" something changed
inside of me. For the first time in my life, I felt motivated to look
at my clutter. I faced my closet with hope and an empty garbage bag
and pulled a t-shirt off the shelf and put it in the bag. I waited 5
minutes... took the t-shirt out and put it back on the shelf. I
obviously was not ready to clear clutter that day, but it was an
important first step.
A few days after my first attempt I braved
my closet again and this time I must have been ready because I filled
four garbage bags full of clothes. There were some things in those
bags I never thought I could get rid of, but I felt strangely at peace
with my decisions. It was time for something new in my life, I wasn't
sure what, but I was ready for change.
Despite my feeling of
peace, those garbage bags sat in the middle of my bedroom floor for
three weeks. I guess I needed to take my time in letting go and when I
was ready I made a trip to the Goodwill.
Those four garbage bags
were the first of many to leave my home as I spent the next year going
through layer after layer of clutter and asking myself more and more
difficult questions.
The most difficult layer for me was when
I asked myself the question "Does this represent who I am now, or who I
used to be?". Boy, was that a toughie, because as I looked around my
room, I found I didn't really connect with most of the things I saw.
I
honestly believe that letting go of that last layer and all those that
have come before and after have helped me to become who I am today. Was
it scary? YES! Was it easy? NO! Am I grateful I stepped into my
fear? YOU BETCHA!
If you are new to clutter clearing I invite
you to start with one small step. You don't need to do it all at once
perfectly. You just need to take one step at a time. Standing in
front of my closet with an empty garbage bag was mine.
I would
love to hear other people's stories about their first attempt at
clearing clutter. Send your stories to spaceforlife@gmail.com and if
you are willing, let me know if I can share them on my website. I
would also love to hear about a book that changed your life.
Happy Clutter Clearing!
Cecilia Moorcroft
Suck it up!
Did you know that one of the fastest and most effective ways to shift the energy in your space is to vacuum? It's true! If you're feeling stuck or feel like the energy in your home or office is feeling a little stagnant, it's time to pull out that old Hoover. Make sure to take a moment to centre yourself with a few deep breaths before you begin. While you vacuum, focus on clearing the energy in the space and making way for what you would like to come in to it's place.
I recently attended a talk by Felix Conradi a vibrant and engaging Space Clearer and energetic healer who has trained with Karen Kingston and this was his advice. So give it a try and as always, please let me know how it goes!
Feng Shui - It's Alive!!
Your stuff is talking to you. Can you hear it?
It may sound a little creepy, but everything that surrounds you is alive and is talking to you all the time. That's right! I'm talking about the clothes on your body, the pictures on your walls, the books on your book shelf, that pile of magazines in the corner. Even your garbage can is talking to you. This is one of the main principles in Feng Shui.
Can you hear what your stuff is trying to tell you? Here's a hint... Not only is everything around you alive, but everything that belongs to you is connected to your energy. If you can imagine, there are little energetic threads connecting us to all of our stuff, and those threads are constantly sending little messages to us. Some messages are louder than others. What's so cool about Feng Shui is this idea that when you work with your stuff, you are actually working with yourself.
Take a wedding ring for example. Out of context a wedding ring is a small circular piece of metal. To the person who is wearing it, however, this small circular piece of metal contains a thousand stories about the person who gave it to them. Not just about the moment when the ring was placed on their finger but all of the moments leading up to that one and all the moments after.
Now consider a wedding ring that no longer lives on your finger, but lives in a drawer in your dresser. What is that little piece of metal telling you? How many stories are attached to it? How does it make you feel?
Not all of our stuff has a voice as loud as a wedding ring but you would be surprised. Take a moment to think about your closet. Imagine yourself standing in front of your open closet door and looking at what's there. If you like, I invite you to get up and look at your physical closet. What's living in there? I imagine there are some clothes. Take a moment to check in and see how the things in your closet make you feel. How loud are the voices coming from the hangers? What are they telling you about yourself?
It's not so bad now, but I used to have a closet full of clothes that were yelling at me. Telling me that I was fat, that I should lose weight, that it's no wonder nobody loves me, etc... etc... I finally got tired of being yelled at and let go of all the clothes that didn't fit me any more. I wanted to be able to look in my closet and only see clothes that I liked and that I could wear at that moment.
What happened next was really miraculous. After years of steadily gaining weight, I slowly but surely began to lose weight. I didn't go on a diet, I wasn't consciously trying to lose weight, but slowly my body began to change. I have no doubt that it was connected to me taking that long hard look at my closet and letting go.
Try it for yourself and see how it makes you feel. If you're not ready to let go of the clothes, at least put them in the basement or in a separate container.
I invite you to start a conversation with your stuff. See what it's telling you about who you think you are and who you would like to be. Here are a few questions you can ask your stuff
- Do I love it?
- Do I use it?
- How does it make me feel?
- Do I love it now, or did I used to love it?
- Does it represent who I am now, or who I used to be?
- Where did it come from and who gave it to me?
- What does this remind me of?
Have fun talking to your stuff and let me know how it goes by commenting below or dropping me a line at spaceforlife@gmail.com.