I’ve recently made a huge change to my environment that had nothing to do with moving any of my furniture. But first, let me tell you a little story that you may find interesting and perhaps relate back to something you may have felt before, but also deepen your understanding of how powerful Feng Shui can be.
First, let me take you back to 2003…. it’s worth the read, promise.
This was when I was living in my tiny West Village apartment. It was in an awesome location, a great building, but one day, my happy apartment suddenly felt… stagnant. That’s the only way I could describe it.
When you entered through the front door, you dropped right into the kitchen, and of course, there was no living room because I transformed that tiny area into a graphic design “studio.” But I totally loved my apartment. I loved my manila yellow kitchen walls, my view of a giant tree that overlooked a happy playground. I felt lucky to live there.
But after 2 years of living there, this weird feeling of suffocation settled in, like I couldn’t breathe anymore. I had no idea what to do about it because everyone who visited would say, “Oooh, your apartment is sooo cute!”
So in a moment of inspiration, I brought in a Feng Shui expert. What she proposed was that I create a more efficient layout for my work room so that my 2, sometimes 3 employees could fit and it wouldn’t leave them working in my kitchen and me on my bed.
I followed her direction like a good student, created a workspace that allowed us to work on more projects and then guess what happened? I had the inspiration to find a space outside my apartment to work. Like a real office space. Who would have thunk that stagnation for me at that moment meant I was unconsciously craving expansion?
Within a couple of months, I packed up my computers and my employees and set up a graphic design studio in the Flatiron district for about 10 years. I have to say that they were some of the best years of my life until, of course, I found my Feng Shui calling 🙂
I remember what I was feeling when I was looking to leave graphic design. Although I loved the work and my relationships, I didn’t enjoy spending endless hours, and I mean endless hours, in front of my computer. It was in that moment that I knew my environment went beyond just my space and furniture, but also encompassed other elements such as digital files, computer usage and technology itself.
Fast forward 20 or so years and today, I’m going through what seems like Phase 2 of this discomfort with technology.
I don’t want to be that old woman who says, “things used to be better when…” but man, remember when we didn’t have cell phones and people just waited at corners at the scheduled meeting time? Remember being bored and reading a book or going to the park? Remember going to a coffee shop and just drinking coffee and maybe, just maybe, chatting with the folks next to you? Sigh. Those were the days.
These days, businesses can be created and hit the jackpot using technology and social media adeptly. I know this well because I’ve always been an early user (YouTube videos anyone?) and early embracer, but even so, I have always been uncomfortable with these tools.
Even as a Feng Shui expert, I am not immune to burnout. I’m just more aware of it, as my mastery of energy is pretty slick, if I may say so myself 😉 But one thing that I know burns me out is social media, which is why I went off it a while ago, only logging on to post my weekly Feng Shui Fridays. Let me tell you though, last week a bit of business guilt crept in, so I started logging on more and staying on longer.
And this is what happened: the 15 minutes a day that I allocated turned into 3 hours. No kidding. Yes, I did learn how to make simple healthy dishes, laughed at foreigners moving to China and speaking a better Chinese than I ever would and even got inspired to learn how to tango. But crap, did those few days burn me out, disrupt my sleep and make me feel super inadequate in all facets of my life.
So, I have finally accepted that social media is not my jam. It’s an energy suck for me. It should not occupy a large space in my environment. It’s like an imposing dark armoire that makes me feel exhausted every time I look at it.
Consequently, I decided to go cold turkey again and limit my usage to just Feng Shui Fridays. And in doing so, I instantly felt better. I started reading books and magazines again, going to the gym earlier in the morning and doing all the things that help me feel like a million bucks. Just by not logging onto Instagram.
This is a very long story to tell you that Feng Shui, as I practice it, is more than you think.
Your environment is more than your couch. Your environment is indeed your bed, your wall colors and your uncle’s artwork. But it’s also your friends, your hobbies, your lunch choices and your digital files. Whatever affects your energy is Feng Shui.
My nemesis is social media but it’s maybe not yours. So tell me, what’s your relationship with social media? What have you noticed is an energy drain for you?
