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Feng Shui: Declutter Gifts and Heirlooms

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Declutter Gifts and Heirlooms

Recently a Feng Shui client asked me what to do with several things she had inherited from her father that didn’t fit into her home. They took up her limited space and didn’t really fit in with her taste and décor. She needed help to declutter gifts and heirlooms.

What do you do with well-intentioned gifts and family treasures that clutter your space and your life?  

decluttering gifts and heirlooms, antique chest partially open
Do you have heirlooms or gifts that don't fit your home or your lifestyle?

“Clutter,” as Karen Kingston writes in Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, “is something that is not genuinely useful or truly loved.” It could be the ump-teenth dolphin knick-knack you received long after you out-grew your infatuation with dolphins. Or your great uncle’s umbrella stand – but you never knew your great uncle. Feng Shui tells us that clutter blocks chi-energy. If you are feeling stuck in your life, it could be due to clutter in your home or office.

There are three ways to approach this dilemma:

Let go of those thing that do not enhance your life, functionally or emotionally, while you hold on to the love and warm feelings with which the gift was given.

  1. Donate to charity – get a receipt for taxes
  2. Sell through a consignment shop – get it out of your house and make a little money
  3. Or, if it is beyond repair or useful function – toss it.

If these items are hard to let go, take photos of the items and create a memory book, either a scrap book or an online photo album. And then donate, sell or toss.

If it is something you have inherited and these things have meaning for your extended family, perhaps they would be treasured by another family member. Ask them if there is anything they would like to have. Then give them thirty (30) days to pick it up or arrange to have it shipped to their own home. If not claimed within that time period – then give it to a charity or toss it.

These may seem like harsh words, but I am sure the people who gave you these gifts or family treasures did not intent for them to clutter your life. Think of the larger circle of giving and receiving. What is your clutter may be someone else’s treasure. Trust that the universe will find the right home for these things.

Need help to re-vision your home without clutter and in harmony with your lifestyle? Contact me, today.

Get more inspiration for your decluttering.

photo by mckay savage

Feng Shui Basics for Home: Feng Shui Look vs. Feng Shui Feel

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The Key Concept of Feng Shui

Many Feng Shui blogs and articles (including my own) seem to only offer decorating tips and furniture arrangement ideas. Something has gotten lost – the key concept of Feng Shui: Chi. Feng Shui decorating and furniture placement should be in the service of enhancing, balancing and harmonizing Chi energy for your benefit.

Chinese calligraphy of pictogram for Chi
Each brush stroke of this calligraphy for “Chi” has a meaning.

Let’s take a minute and discuss: What is Chi?  and  Why do we need it?

What is Chi?

“Chi is the invisible, intangible, animating energy of the universe.”  – Stephen Post

Chi is the “life force” or “breath of life.” Ancient Taoists believed everything in the universe contained Chi.

  • There is Chi in the heavens – Celestial Chi – Compass school Feng Shui
  • There is Chi in the earth – Earth Chi – Land Form and BTB Feng Shui
  • And there is Chi in our bodies – Traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and Tai Chi.

Why do we need Chi?

You absorb the Chi in your space – good, bad or stagnant. This is experienced as energy, and physical and mental health – good, bad or stagnant. Feng Shui seeks to bring harmonious Chi into your environment to support your personal Chi.

How does Feng Shui help you receive Chi?

How do you get Chi into your home or workspace?

“Chi floats like air and is drawn to water.” – Chinese proverb.

The words “Feng Shui” translate to “wind” and “water”. Chi is omnipresent in Nature. It enters your space through the designated front door or “mouth of Chi”.  Chi is a nourishing energy.

Chi can be blocked from entering your home or office by clutter. Decluttering is an important precursor to Feng Shui, not because being organized makes you a better person, but because clutter sucks up Chi. As Chi moves through your space it scatters its energy around like fairy dust. You then absorb that energy. Chi can be lost if it leaves your home too quickly.

If the Chi of your space is out of sync with your personal needs (your 5 Element Energies)  you will  miss this fine-tuning of your Chi.

If the Chi of your space is too Yin or too Yang it works against the feeling and function of the space for you.

Want help improving the Chi of your home or Office? Contact Linda Varone.

 

If you liked this review of Chi and would like to learn more about the core concepts of Feng Shui, please comment below. Let me know what you would like to learn in these blog posts.

Chinese calligraphy by Russell Eng Gon

Feng Shui Cures: 3 Factors for Success & the Myth of the One Best Cure

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Sometimes people ask me “what Feng Shui cure should I use in my – romance area?, – wealth area?, – career area?” The short answer is there is no short answer.   Some Feng Shui books make very specific recommendations; I call this “cookie-cutter Feng Shui”.  In the best Feng Shui one cure does not fit all situations.

 Three factors determine the best Feng Shui cures for you: 

Starbucks Japan
Starbucks Japan: A caffeinated place for caffeinated people?
  1. The energy of the space or room,
  2. The energy of the cure,
  3. The energy of the people or person using the room.

1. The Energy of the Space

 Some rooms feel “calm”, some feel “upbeat”, some feel “chaotic”, and some feel “heavy.” Calm rooms are usually uncluttered and well-organized with simple decoration. Upbeat rooms are also well-organized and are abundant with decoration. “Chaotic” rooms are frequently cluttered and disorganized. “Heavy” rooms are usually crowded with unused/unloved things.

Start with de-cluttering if the room needs it. The best Feng Shui cures in the world are less effective in a cluttered or disorganized space. Then decide if you want to create a calm or energized room depending on what you want to do in that space. A bedroom should be calmer than a family room. A home office is usually calmer than a creative studio space.

2. The Energy of the Cure 

starbucks amsterdam
Starbucks Amsterdam - Quieter space for quieter people

Some Feng Shui books tell you to use a specific cure for a particular part of the ba-gua or compass direction. This is not wrong, but is overly literal and limiting.  An unlit purple candle in the Wealth area (correct Ba-Gua color) has less energy than a healthy plant or a crystal in a sunlit window in that same Wealth area.

Chi is energy. You want to use cures that have their own energy: light, color, sound, movement and living things that bring their energy into the room. Personal mementos that remind you of the people, places and events that you love most work as cures by lifting your own energy, consciously or unconsciously.

3. The Energy of the People who use the Space – and What They Plan to Do There.

One way you can figure out your personal energy level is to note what kind of coffee shop you like to hang out in. Do you like to enjoy your latte in a café with a pulsing sound system and a lot of background noise? Or do you gravitate to a coffee shop with softer music and lighting and acoustics that dampen background noise?

Some people are very high-energy, others are mellow.  Match the energy of the space to the energy of the person.

A quiet room may be experienced by a high-energy person as boring and they will become restless, while a quieter person will feel comfortable. A room with lots of stimulation (light, colors, sound, and movement) will be a great match for a high-energy person, but will be overwhelming and fatiguing for a quieter person causing them to “shut-down.”

When you are seeking to balance the energy of someone, individualized fine-tuning is necessary to create rooms to help your personal energizer bunny chill out, or motivate and activate your laid-back introvert.

Choose one of the Nine Cures which is the right fit for you and your space.  Tune into your intuition to guide you. Try out a cure and see how the room and you feel. If it is not quite right, try another cure.

The bottom line: there is no one “right” cure. What may work for your best friend or the author of a book may not be the best solution for you and your space.

What kind of space works best for you?

Japan photo by Kengo Kuma and Associates. Amsterdam photo by Rien Meulma

Furniture Placement for Connection: How to Avoid Furniture Sprawl

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Tips on Furniture Placement for Connection with Others

Feng Shui gives you insights about furniture placement to maximize Chi flow and to provide a sense of protection. While this is important, it does not address the your most important need: connection with others. Furniture placement for connection is not about the furniture, it is about arranging seating, tables and lighting for relaxed conversation and easy eye contact.

“The most important thing is being able to make eye contact.”– Witold Rybzinski, architect and historian.

People feel most comfortable being together when the degree of emotional connectedness and physical closeness match.

When these two factors are not in sync people feel invaded or isolated, which can be experienced as anxiety or discomfort. And yet, people tend to spread out their furniture to fill the room, no matter the size of the space.

Please Note: The rooms you see in design magazines and online are setup for the best photo composition, not for how the room works in real life. These rooms are totally rearranged for the photographer.

Furniture placement for connection, diagram of interpersonal distances for specific interactions
For true connection and communication to occur, it is essential that you are the right distance from the person you are talking to – otherwise you will experience a feeling of stress, invasion or disconnect.

Interior Psychology calls this interaction zone “Interpersonal Distance”. Knowing how to use this helps you create spaces that make conversation calmer, intimacy easier and privacy possible.

The interpersonal Distances in Your Life:

Intimate Distance, 0-18 inches, is from skin-to-skin contact to arms length. This is most often used by lovers and parents with their children: for care, protection, passion.  You can speak in a whisper or low voice, touch, kiss.

Personal Distance, 1 ½ – 4 feet, is for connection without touching. This is best for conversations with family and close friends. People will be drawn to seating spaces that are cozier, inviting people to hang out and connect.

Social Distances: 4-7 feet, is the “close phase” of Social Distances, which is appropriate for business or formal social gatherings. This is not a comfortable distance for everyday family time and conversation.

Seven to 12 feet is the “far phase” of Social Distance. At this distance your voice must be projected, the tone of your voice changes and your message becomes briefer. This changes the emotional dynamic of your conversation. Interior designers call this “shouting distance.” Spaces with furniture sprawl are most vulnerable to this.

How to Use Interpersonal Distances in Your Home – Furniture Placement for Connection

In Gathering Spaces: Living Rooms, Family Rooms, Dining Rooms and Kitchens:

Arrange seating to support face-to-face distance of 5 ½ – 7 feet or less (a tape measure is handy). During my consultations I move furniture around to help my clients experience how much better it feels to have a smaller seating area. Their surprised response is “I really like it this way!” Moving furniture closer together is especially important in large rooms where the impulse is to spread out furniture to fill the space = furniture sprawl.

When furniture is farther apart a space feels more formal and people will interact that way. When seating is closer together, what may at first glance look crowded, will feel cozy and comfortable.

Chair Placement for Eye Contact and Connection

Being aware of distance is the first part of arranging your furniture by making it easier to hear and speak. How your seating is grouped makes eye contact easier and more relaxed.

People instinctively gather in a circle when talking together. So arrange your chairs and sofa in a circle or U-shape or even an L-shape. When seated at a table, a round table is ideal.

Want help arranging your furniture for greater intimacy and connect while creating a room that looks beautiful? Contact me.

How do you arrange your furniture to make you feel comfortable? Share your ideas in the comments below.

image by linda varone

Feng Shui and Wealth: Start the New Year with a Feng Shui Boost

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There are two ways you can use Feng Shui to maximize your chances for wealth: make the most of the Chi in your space and enhance the Wealth area of the Ba-gua.

The Chi that enters your home or workspace brings life energy to you. Chi flow brings luck, opportunity and prosperity. Chi flow can equal money flow. To help with this be sure that the area around your front door – where Chi enters – is clear of clutter. Clutter can literally slow down or block the flow of Chi to your home. Clutter also depletes Chi energy, which is one reason why you feel so tired in a cluttered space. Then enhance the Chi-attracting qualities of your front door with color, plantings or appropriate decoration.

drain
Is your chi flowing down the drain?

The Wealth area of your space is in the back left hand third of your home or office.  Take a look at what is there. If there is any clutter – clear it out and organize it. If there are any sinks, toilets or drains in that area – like a bathroom or kitchen – then cover the drains when not in use – this includes keeping the toilet cover down. Place a potted plant on your vanity or toilet tank or on your kitchen counter near the sink. Plants have Chi energy and like attracts like. Therefore plants will attract Chi and less of it will go down the drains.

Once the Wealth area is cleared and prepared then you can add the cure of your choice: an aquarium or re-circulating water fountain, a picture of your dream vacation or dream house; or a photo to the people you love most – your non- material treasures. You can also use plants, flowers, a lamp, crystal, a stained glass suncatcher, wind chime or music.

Start with one simple cure for Wealth – less is truly more.

Horoscope: 2009 Year of the Ox

Chinese New Year is January 26, 2009, ushering in the year of the Ox. The Ox signifies new beginnings and slow but sure action while building things that last. That which is begun now is likely to have long term consequences.

Like last year (2008), this is an Earth year, but it is likely to be less tumultuous. On a personal level, better results are more likely to be achieved by going with the flow rather than aggressively charging forward and initiating a lot of action.

The combination of Earth and Ox is primarily characteristic of durability. It suggests an environment dominated by cautious pragmatism rather than quixotic dreaming. Things will get done. You will have the greatest success if you focus on just a few, long term projects. It also suggests proceeding in a cautious yet determined manner. Avoid taking unnecessary risks and yielding to the temptation to seek short term gains.

The year 2009 will be a period of lasting accomplishments. The big challenge everyone faces is to generate the enthusiasm and desire to act. Those individuals and organizations that do will create enduring benefits for themselves and the world.

photo by David Blackwell