Being a Feng Shui Consultant doesn’t make me virtuous nor immune to clutter.
Last week I found myself staring at a pile of things that were – guess where – smack in the middle of my abundance area. A leaning tower of things I needed to get fixed or donate and all the in-betweens. Just sitting there. Mucking up my abundance and revealing oh-so-much.
It was during this stare-down that I realized that this needed to be dealt with. Immediately.
Why the urgency? Because where we tend to pile up stuff is usually where we need to take a look at in our lives.
So take a look around. Where’s your pile?
It isn’t a coincidence that I noticed my pile this week. It just happens to coincide with the start of my 3-week Fall cleanse where the first challenge is to be vigilant, evaluating and weeding out big things, in a big way. When figuring out what may be keeping you stuck in an area of your life, you want to be sure to look at everything you can.
To get an accurate picture of what is going on in your life, you must use your outer world to peer into your inner world.
Here’s what I mean. When you use the handy-dandy Feng Shui tool called the Bagua, you can see what sections of your home reflect the specific areas of your life. Cool and scary right?
Piles or clutter usually mean that something is indeed stuck and needs your attention. So here’s what you’re gonna do. Take your handy bagua tool below and line it up with your front door, facing into your space. All the sections in your life will reveal themselves in your floorplan. Then when looking at your sectioned floorplan and your piles – nope, I didn’t forget about your piles – ask yourself the following important questions:
- Beginnings/Family – If things are piling up here, ask yourself, am I having a hard time getting things started? Are there issues in my family that need to be addressed? What can I do to “jump start” the energy in this section?
- Wealth/Fortunes/Blessings – This doesn’t only mean money. Yes, money is always a plus so let’s discuss it here. Are you paying enough attention to your money or do you ignore it and close your eyes to it because it makes you too nervous? What about other parts of your life? Does it feel abundant?
- Recognition/Fame/Reputation – How are you seen in the world? In your workplace? Do you have a good or not-so-great reputation?
- Relationships/Partnerships – How is the health of the relationships in your life? Landlords count too, so pay your rent on time.
- Creativity/Joy/Completion – This one gets overlooked alot for obvious and not so obvious reasons. How happy are you? Do you do things that bring joy into your everyday life? Do you start projects but have trouble completing them?
- Benefactors/Helpful People/Travel – Do you have the support in your life that you would like or need? Are you able to ask for help when you need it? Are you willing to travel for what you need to do in life or are you travelling too much?
- Career/Path in Life/Opportunities – Are you on track with where you want to be in your career? Are enough opportunities coming your way? Is your path in life clear?
- Knowledge/Self Cultivation – How well do you know yourself? Is there any skills that you need to improve upon? What self-care practices do you have in place?
The first steps to getting unstuck is cultivating awareness and taking action. Looking at and figuring out what is going on (awareness) and then doing something about it (action) are crucial in getting you closer to your goals.
After you have answered these questions, I want you to figure out what you are ready to change and/or let go of in your home AND in yourself. Eeps! Then I want you to take one step, just one action step this week.
As for me, I’m in my third day of cleansing. I am aware that coffee, alcohol and dairy make me feel icky so they are now a thing of the past. Don’t get me wrong, I still dream of lattes and merlot, but remind myself that these 3 short weeks will reveal to me much more than I can imagine at this moment.
Oh and my abundant pile o’ crapola? That corner now houses a meditation cushion (insert happy, peaceful emoticon here).
Stay tuned next week for what’s next in the inner/outer cleanse!
What a timely article. Is the location of the pile more important than the type of pile? I just spent yesterday afternoon going through a junk pile and now have 2 junk piles that require action. Sometimes I think it is better to just have one pile that you ignore…
Location, location, location! First and foremost is location but if you are piling old work papers in your career area and you are looking for a job, that is another story. Now about that ignored pile, take a look at where it’s located and then take a look at what is going on in that area of your life. It’s usually pretty accurate!
Great article. I’ve always known this but today with your article I was able to pinpoint the Children/Creativity area as one I need to address. Thanks!
I’m so happy Sondra that it was helpful. First step is to be aware, then you can come up with the game plan! Good luck!