TELL TALE SIGNS OF CLUTTER FROM A FENG SHUI PERSPECTIVE

"Feng Shui HouseTalk – What Your Clutter is Trying to Tell You"
by Kathryn Weber

Feng shui isn’t just about painting a wall a certain color and hanging a windchime. Feng shui is more about understanding the way your house is representing your life. And there are signs, both subtle and overt that are telling you about the need to make changes in one to see improvement in the other.

Let’s take, for example, a house where someone is a hoarder.

A hoarder is clearly someone who's lost control of reality. They no longer see the way life is and cling to a stubborn idea or emotion about something being taken from them or trying to exert their control in a life where they feel they have little.

Over time, the stuff and detritus accumulates. Their house is trying to give them a sign: let go!

There’s a Zen saying of “let go or be dragged.”

When we aren’t able to let go – of a situation, negative self talk, or clutter and possessions that no longer serve us, we’re dragged down by that energy. The beautiful part of feng shui is that we are able to literally see what’s surrounding us and telling us where our lives are being affected.

Karen Kingston in her seminal book, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, says the root of all clutter is the fear of letting go. But that’s fairly obvious. It goes deeper than that.

I believe all clutter is your home’s way of showing your fear of the future.

I know someone who has very little space. He’s lost all the big things in his life. And what little space is there is filled with teeny, tiny things, stuff wedged into jars, vases, nooks and crannies -- everywhere. This is a person who doesn’t just fear the future, he dreads it. And life unfolds as a thousand tiny cuts, bleeding the vitality – and the empowerment – out of his life.

The beautiful part of letting go of all this stuff is that you are brought in touch with yourself, regaining your life again, and rediscovering your natural vitality.

When we hold on to our possessions – what we’ve bought in the past – our home is telling us with the cramped drawers, the closet rods rammed so tightly you can find anything or garages full of junk, that we don’t believe life will get better in the future.

Even if your conscious mind believes it will, your house is showing you something different. So what do you believe? What your mind is telling you or what your house is showing you?

Another important message your clutter or mess is trying to get across is that you don’t believe you can fix a situation. Maybe you haven’t faced up to an insecurity, whether that’s financial insecurity, emotional insecurity or relationship insecurity and sought help for it.

Self improvement guru, Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Life, says that the likely cause of being overweight ranges from being fearful and needing protection to being resistant to forgiving, and that what the overweight person is ultimately seeking is fulfillment.

Life becomes empty while the house becomes full.

I think that’s what our house is trying to show us: that we’re seeking fulfillment and what we’re getting is filled – filled with stuff we don’t need, use, and many times, even want.

A friend of mine died a couple of years ago. She was a writer. Lately I’ve been clearing out my books and office and purging old unwanted items. I came across her book. While I cared for my friend, she was trapped in her family’s decades-old alcoholism drama. I started to keep her book (which I already read), but then I thought that doing that meant I was holding on to her family’s drama (which she painfully detailed in the book).

But I summoned up my courage, took in a big breath, let it out, and put it in the recycle pile.

I almost kept the book out of guilt that she was dead. But I didn’t want to be dragged by this drama, so I let it go.

When you’re having a hard time releasing something, take in a big breath, hold it for a count of three and exhale. Then see how you feel about the item. Notice your breathing as you are clearing out. Does it stop? Are you aware of it? Give yourself plenty of time to breathe and take in many cleansing breaths while you purge.

What is your house showing you with the clutter in your life?

Learn to read the signs of your clutter. Once you do, you’ll stop being dragged by it.

Your house is telling you to let go.

Source: www.redlotusletter.com