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10 Feng Shui Secrets for Clearing Your
Clutter
by Carol M. Olmstead, FSII,
Certified Feng Shui Practitioner,
FengShuiForRealLife.com
Photo Joseph Helfenburger
Feng Shui is the art and science of balancing your
interior environment. Keeping clutter out of your home
and workplace is a big part of achieving this balance.
In Feng Shui, clutter represents postponed decisions and
the inability to move forward. What you accumulate,
where you put it, and why you keep it say a lot about
you.
If clutter in your home or office has you stuck, here
are 10 Feng Shui secrets to help you break the cycle and
move forward:
DO THE FENG SHUI FLING. Once a month, get a large
plastic bag, move quickly through your home, and fling
27 things into the bag—things you don’t need, don’t
want, don’t know why you are keeping. Don’t think, don’t
analyze, don’t hesitate…just fling. Then take the bag
right out to your trashcan before you change your mind.
MAKE ROOM FOR A RELATIONSHIP. Declutter your
house to make room for the perfect partner to come into
your life, or to rev up your existing relationship.
Clear out your bedroom closet so there will be room for
your lover’s clothes. Toss expired prescriptions and
half-used toothpaste tubes to make an opening in the
medicine cabinet for a lover’s toiletries. Clear off one
of the night tables in the bedroom and empty at least
one drawer for a partner to fill.
LET YOUR OLD CLOTHES GO. As the weather starts to
change, change your wardrobe by letting go of the
clothes you no longer wear, including the shoes that
cause blisters, the pants that ride too high in the
crotch, the suits from your button-down days. You may
have paid a lot for them, you certainly loved them when
you bought them, but if you have not worn an item of
clothing for a year, remove it from your closet and
donate it to charity.
Photo - 36 Clicks
CLEAR OUT THE KITCHEN. A clean, food-filled
kitchen is the center of family life and a symbol of
health and prosperity in Feng Shui. Throw out anything
in your refrigerator and freezer that is past it’s
expiration date or is “fuzzy.” Remove everything from
your pantry, wipe the shelves, and get rid of opened
items that are more than six months old.
Photo - Blue Eye
CLEAN YOUR OFFICE. Clean your computer, including
keyboard and monitor, at least once a month. Remove the
books from your shelves and dust, then put back only
those books you use regularly. Remove dead leaves from
your office plants; if you have silk plants, dust or
replace them if they are faded.
READ AND RELEASE. Instead of cramming even one
more book into your bookcase, practice the read and
release principle: give it to a friend, donate it to
charity, “forget it” at Starbucks, leave it at the
grocery store, trade it at a used bookstore. Releasing
your books creates space and enriches your community by
sharing the pleasure of reading.
CLEAR YOUR DESK DRAWER. Open your top drawer and
toss the following things into the trash: dried-up pens
and markers, bent paper clips, message slips from people
you have already called, pencils with worn-down erasers,
dried up bottles of correction fluid, brittle rubber
bands that will break as soon as you stretch them.
ORGANIZE SCHOOL PAPERS. You love every one of
those drawings and papers that your children bring home
from school, but if you save everything it diminishes
the value of those special ones. Instead, each week
collect all of the papers in a folder and have your
child select one to keep. Put it on the refrigerator or
display it on a bulletin board. After a week, date the
paper and put it in a scrapbook or keepsake box for each
child.
CONTROL MAILBOX CLUTTER. This is the time of year
when the deluge of holiday catalogues starts arriving in
your mailbox along with all the other printed materials
you never read, and that translates into clutter. Keep a
trashcan, recycling bin, and a shredder near your mail
sorting area. When the mail comes, immediately toss the
junk into the trash or recycling, and shred anything
with personal information on it.
GIVE THANKS FOR THE EXTRA SPACE. As we get closer
to Thanksgiving you don’t need more things to be
thankful for, you just need more room for thankfulness.
Here are three things you can get rid of and be thankful
for the extra space: One unfinished project, one object
that needs fixing but isn’t worth the effort, one
souvenir that no longer has meaning.
Want more Feng Shui tips? Subscribe to the Feng Shui
For Real Life E-zine, a free monthly collection of
advice, success stories, and seasonal advice about how
to use the practical magic of Feng Shui. To subscribe,
go to
www.FengShuiForRealLife.com and click on the
“Newsletter” tab.
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Carol M. Olmstead is a consultant, author, and
speaker specializing in practical, real-world
applications of Feng Shui for home, business,
and real estate. Carol received her professional
Feng Shui certification more than 12 years ago
from the Feng Shui Institute of America, and was
recently awarded Red Ribbon Professional status
by the International Feng Shui Guild.
Carol uses her natural intuitive sense to help
attract prosperity, health, love, harmony,
happiness, and abundance. She has been featured
in print, broadcast, and Internet publications
including Cosmopolitan, Washington
Post, Washingtonian Magazine,
Chicago Tribune, The Scientist Magazine,
Prevention Books, Telecommuting for
Dummies, and in home improvement and
interior design websites. Her book, the Feng
Shui Quick Guide for Home and Office: Secrets
for Attracting Wealth, Harmony, and Love,
will be published next month. To pre-order, go
to
www.FengShuiForRealLife.com.
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