Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui
Feng shui is an Ancient Chinese practice of arranging environments to balance qi (life force) as well as promote health, harmony, and prosperity. Now, I’ve always been on the fence about feng shui – some aspects of it seems like woo to me, yet other aspects just seem like common sense. For example, I don’t believe in good or evil spirits that would, respectively, enter or flee a home if they see a mirror near the front door. That being said, I do think it’s very useful to have a mirror by the front door, were it only so that you can take a quick look at yourself before you set out for the day (and fix your appearance as needed!). Mirrors are also useful to reflect light, and they can be aesthetically pleasing focal points.
All this to say, I read a very interesting book recommended by a colleague of mine: Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, by Karen Kingston (that is an affiliate link). This book seemed particularly interesting to me because it explores the relationship between clutter and feng shui / life force. Clutter certainly does stop the flow of energy in a room – and maybe you would phrase it differently, by saying that it’s your eyes that can’t travel around the room freely, or that you feel stuck or weighed down in that room, or it makes you feel anxious and you can’t breathe properly, but I think that it adds up to the same.
Here is an excerpt: “You are energetically connected to everything you own. When your home is filled with things that you love or use well, it becomes an incredible source of support and nourishment for you. Clutter, on the other hand, drags your energy down and the longer you keep it, the more it will affect you.” The author also talks about the fact that clutter takes up a lot of mental energy, even as your subconscious mind tries to suppress it, and so you feel more energetic with less clutter – that is definitely something I have seen with clients, and I talk about it often on social media!
Karen Kingston goes on to define four categories of clutter: things you do not use or love, things that are untidy or disorganized, too many things in too small a space, and anything unfinished. It’s an interesting way to categorize it! The first category clearly overlaps with core tenets of the KonMari Method™. I certainly agree that things that are messy come across as clutter (even if they can be put away easily), and I’m a big believer in the container concept – meaning that the size of your space tends to dictate how many things you can comfortably keep. As for unfinished projects, they are one category that I always name as a source of clutter! I think I would add categories such as things that bring back bad memories, things that are tied to decisions you have been putting off, etc.
(On a side note, I strongly believe in the importance of choosing objects that you love. For example, you might have a kettle that you use frequently, but you don’t really like it – maybe it’s ugly, or water doesn’t pour out of it properly, whatever the reason. I encourage you to invest a bit more and buy a kettle that you love! Loving your everyday objects truly elevates your experience and makes you happier overall.)
This image was created by Klub Boks for Pexels.
In this book, the author also talked about bagua, or the concept of specific areas of a room or home being associated with aspects of your life such as health, prosperity, or relationships. The more cluttered a specific physical area is, the worse you will be doing in that figurative area in your life. According to this theory, the rear left corner of a room would be associated with knowledge. My instinct is to say that’s woo. And yet, I now realize that in my home office, that is precisely where I keep my bookcase of reference materials and dictionaries! I feel like this is something I’d like to experiment with, maybe by making the “travel” area of my home super inviting!
Have any of you thought about the relationship between feng shui and clutter?
Hi there! I’m Amélie, a professional home organizer in San Antonio, Texas. I help people like you declutter their home, organize their belongings, and simplify their life. I love cleaning out a closet and removing a carload of donations from a home! My goal is to help you create a functional space that will make your life easier and more peaceful.
Interested? Check out my personalized services or book your complimentary consultation!
