Category: Feng Shui

OK, here is the second article about taking out the trash and why its so important! Please, you guys, leave me some comments about this stuff, let me know if its helpful , and what tips you have tried and found really useful.

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

What Clutter Clearing Can Do For You
by Stephanie Roberts

You can get a pretty good idea of the benefits of clutter clearing simply by imagining your life free of all the negative effects of clutter: lack of focus and clarity; feelings of being professionally, creatively, spiritually, and/or romantically stuck; insufficient time and attention for self and family; increased stress, irritability and depression. Wouldn’t it be great to be free of all these?

No matter what other factors may be dragging you down, I guarantee you that clearing your clutter will dramatically improve your mood and energy. And then any other problems you are confronting won’t seem quite so bad.

When you first start clutter clearing you may be surprised at the emotions triggered by the simple act of dealing with your stuff. You think you’re just cleaning out your home, but what you’re really doing is rooting around in dusty corners of your psyche and coming eyeball-to-eyeball with unresolved business from the past. The personal relics that lurk within your clutter – college papers, family memorabilia, detritus from a long-dead marriage – can be easier to ignore than to carry to the dump, which is why they’ve been haunting the back of your closet for so many years.

As you persevere with clutter clearing a moment will come when you realize how much lighter and happier you feel. In the process of coping with your clutter, you’ve reconnected with your inner self, with dreams and wishes long ignored. Those you’ve outgrown can be released with a fond smile. Those that make your heart leap with recognition and longing… well, now you have the space, time, and energy to pursue them.

Clutter clearing gets you out of your rut. It shakes loose frozen aspects of your soul and allows them to journey into your heart where they belong and where you can listen to and act upon them.

Eventually, you will find yourself turning to clutter clearing instead of aspirin or caffeine when you notice that you’re not as clear-headed, focused or insightful as you’d like to be. If you’re feeling lethargic and don’t want to exercise, you’ll know to examine whether you’ve allowed a zone of stagnation to creep in around the couch (where you are most likely to be having lazy thoughts in the first place). If you can’t seem to decide on priorities for your business, you’ll realize it’s time to clear off the desk and catch up on paperwork. And if you’re not eating as well as you should, you’ll remember that clearing off the kitchen counter and cleaning out the fridge will help get your eating habits back on track.

What this all boils down to is that managing your clutter helps you feel like less of a victim and puts you back in control of your moods and your life. You have greater confidence in your abilities and decisions, so you feel more hopeful and optimistic about the future. You respect yourself more, and will probably find that other people treat you better as well. You feel less stressed, and have more courage to try and do new things. You stop turning to material objects to make you happy, because you are content with less.

Clearing out your clutter creates space for possibility. You may find yourself deciding to go back to school, change your career, start your own business, go out on a date, take up painting or singing or ballroom dancing, try out for a part in a play, or… what’s your dream? (No wonder clutter clearing can be a little scary! Suddenly there are no more excuses for why you can’t pursue that dream.)

Your friends will say you look terrific. They’ll wonder where that sparkle in your eye came from, and how you manage to look both energized and serene at the same time. It’s because you have released from your life everything that is no longer useful to you. You have let go of the past and are no longer hoarding for the future. You have made space for living freely in the present, where peace resides.

© 2003 Stephanie Roberts

OK, Gang, here we go with the first article about clutter and how it effects us. I know you are all thinking Im a Im a total slob that my house looks like something from Sanford and Sons  but neither is true. Im not going to be on the cover of BH&G anytime, but …..  I really do believe that our outer enviornment does reflect our inner enviornment. And, I also know that I feel much different when I come home on a Monday to a pretty clean place (after having time to catch up on my housework all weekend) then when I come home on a Friday 😉   I also know when we are feeling punky about our case not going as quick as we like, that the doldrums can sometimes stuff can pile up. Been there. But, what better way to feel better and make your house inviting to your HD than by cleaning up! So, I’ll be quiet now and let you read…..

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

Clutter’s Side Effects:
How the State of Your Home Affects Your Life
by Stephanie Roberts

Each area of your home has a symbolic meaning with which you resonate on a subconscious level. Clutter and untidiness within each of these areas causes constriction and inertia in the corresponding aspects of your life.

CLUTTER IN THE KITCHEN
The kitchen has been called the "heart of the home," and with good reason. Here we are nourished and provided for, even if we are dining on a frozen entrée zapped in the microwave rather than a homemade meal lovingly presented by Mom. An untidy and disorganized kitchen makes it hard to nourish yourself and others, on both physical and metaphysical levels. How you care for your kitchen is a clue about whether you are giving proper attention to your own nourishment and sources of abundance. Cleaning up and de-cluttering your kitchen opens up space for you to receive the support and comfort that you need in life.

LIVING AND DINING ROOM CLUTTER
These are spaces where you mingle with and honor your relationships with family and friends. Here you engage with the world while being at home through watching television, reading the paper, or arguing politics with old friends over dinner. Clutter can turn these social spaces into dens of isolation, especially if the mess is so bad that it has been years since you’ve invited people over. Look around your living and dining rooms to see what they say about your relationship with the rest of the world. Are you hiding your true self from others, burying it in clutter, or putting it on display here?

CLUTTERED HALLWAYS
Hallways are the arteries and highways of your home. Think of clutter in your hallways as a traffic jam that prevents important connections between different areas of your home and your life. Look at your hallways to see how you feel about your life’s path: are they well lit and easily navigable, or do they trip you up? If you feel a disconnect between work and family, self and others, what you need and your obligations, it may be time to give your hallways a good clearing out.

BATHROOM CLUTTER
Bathing and anointing the body is a preparatory ritual for many religious rites both ancient and contemporary. On a daily basis we use this space to prepare ourselves to meet the world. Clutter in the bathroom can indicate a devaluation of self-worth, a lack of attention to self that goes beyond the physical. A clean, well-decorated bathroom can become a tranquil sanctuary for rejuvenation and self-care. Scented soaps, attractive accessories, and fragrant candles have a place here. Beautifying your bathroom by eliminating clutter and disorder and transforming it into a place of refuge will bring a sense of the sacred into your morning and evening personal-care rituals.

CLUTTER IN THE BEDROOM
Adults’ bedrooms are for sleeping and intimacy, and they should function as places of renewal for self and relationships. Clutter in the bedroom is enervating without being restful. If you feel "wired and tired," creating order out of chaos in this most personal space can help you relax and let go of the stress of the day. Then you can get a good night’s sleep or enjoy some special time with your partner.

CLUTTERED CLOSETS
Closets represent things that are hidden, unknown, or unrecognized. When we fill our closets with clutter, we stifle our ability to be intuitive and insightful. Cluttered closets can indicate problems that you may not be consciously aware of but which impede your progress through life, work, and relationships nonetheless. Keeping the closet door closed is not an effective solution.

ATTIC AND BASEMENT CLUTTER
A cluttered attic creates a feeling of being under pressure. It’s hard to feel optimistic about the future when there’s so much stuff "hanging over your head." Ancestor issues reside up there, along with all those boxes and chests holding the detritus of generations. And the basement and other below-ground storage areas are considered abodes of the subconscious, so watch your step and get that clutter cleaned up!

CLUTTER IN YOUR GARAGE
Think of your car as a symbol of your mobility, independence, and ability to be self-directed in life. If there’s so much stuff piled up in your garage that you can barely fit the car in there, you may be hampered or overly cautious moving forward in life as well.

Stop thinking of clutter-clearing as a tremendous chore, and start thinking of it as one of the most effective self-improvement tactics available to you. Every magazine and piece of paper you recycle, every book you give to the library, every knick-knack and item of clothing you release to a new owner creates space in your life for new insight, energy, joy, and experiences to come in!

© 2003 Stephanie Roberts