appreciation and aspirations part 2

I'm fascinated by the concept of Feng Shui-literally translated as "wind-water", a Chinese philosophy utilizing the laws of heaven and Earth to help improve one's life by receiving positive Qi (Chi-energy).

Adopted by many in the Western world, the system of Feng Shui traditionally has been used to decide purchases of land, the placement of a residence or business on that land, room arrangement and position of furniture as well as where to locate a final resting place for burial.

Many schools of Feng Shui exist, which I won't get into here. I'm not very knowledgeable about the subject matter beyond what I've written. I won't do disservice to the long history and continued respect for the ideas that the Chinese have.

The New Age concept of "clutter" has been added to this ancient system and it is this that I want to address for my continued discussion of my aspirations.

Clutter can be physical or mental/emotional clutter. Clutter, a catch-all phrase for messiness or unneeded or unwanted things, is best defined as "you know when you see it", not a definition at all but a visceral sense. Women (and some men) know that cleaning closets or file cabinets can be close to a cathartic experience. The general premise is that for new (better) energy to come in, old (bad) energy must be released. If you clean your closet of things you've outgrown, you are preparing for better things to enter. Sort of a nature abhors a vacuum idea.

Back in Boston, my house had enormous physical clutter so I hired a professional organizer to help whip me into ship-shape. And boy did she ever! I can't say it was fun but the whole process sure was enlightening and ultimately very needed and inspiring. And yes, a bit overwhelming emotionally. It's amazing how must we invest things with our feelings and energy. They're just immaterial objects. Somehow we think that our things are pieces of ourselves and that if we throw away a dress or knick-knack, we're discarding some part of ourself.

Now, here in California, I have little physical clutter although some emotional clutter. I tend to hold on to people. The issue here is that the people I most hold on to are those no longer in my life.

See, a bit of a problem, yes? I keep thinking that someday they'll change or the situation will change or somehow we can fix whatever went wrong and poof! everything is better. That's pretty delusional actually. A major aspiration for me for 2009 is to let go of these ideas and move forward with a clear conscience. Otherwise, new and better situations, whatever they may be, cannot enter. I can always have hope that things can change, hope is free after all, however I don't need to emotionally cling to the situation.

I haven't yet completely figured out how to clean my emotional closet, however, I am confident that the solution will come.

As for you, I challenge you to all take stock of your possible clutter whether that be physical or emotional and see if there are things you can release. It's sometimes painful but very rewarding to make that space in your life. Give it a try.

In health (and almost clutter-free!),

Laura