Feng Shui my apartment

is to reduce clutter. The flow of movement is good, and there are things here and there that could be better (hello, couch?), but mostly what remains is too much stuff. It is time to haul away clothes unworn and cds waiting to spin in the player of someone more keen, to recycle old papers, to trim down material things. Cut back the branches and make room for new spirit to grow. Simplify.

Yesterday, I went to Ikea and bought a red cushion, a green vase, and some pink and white flowers for that area. Also, it looks nice. I keep looking over at it. This feng shui goal is so much fun.:)

I realize the need to update each area every once in awhile. A few of the items are things that I put up a couple of years ago, and I associate it with the past (in a sad way), or things that have faded into the past. I appreciate the feng shui idea to keep things current.

Edit: I took a picture of one of my cats because he did one of those things that cats seem to only do. He fell asleep standing up with his face in the leaves of the silk flowers.

1. I usually feng shui my space straight away when I move in. But this has been a strange move. I moved in near the end of June, then spent a week dating a guy who turned out to be a stalker, a week hiding at my sister’s house from said stalker, a week of teacher training, a week in Chicago… So I have not even unpacked everything yet! This place is full of clutter and junk already. There is not much in the way of storage space so it’s all about in piles.

2. The door is not facing an auspicious direction for me, but fortunately, it is already painted purple, the appropriate color to fix that! How lucky. And I have placed my bed facing an appropriate direction.

3. Thirdly, it is a loft style apartment. Living and kitchen downstairs, bed and bath upstairs. I have never done this before. Does that mean there are two levels for some of the guas and empty space above the others? or do I treat the upstairs as a separate entity with all 8 areas? Any thoughts?

4. The stairs… point right out the front door. I know this is not a good thing. How to fix…

I still live in the same apartment that I’ve been in since 2004. It’s like a little nest for me. It’s really beautiful, and it’s in a quiet neighborhood one block away from one of my favorite little parks, which has been planted with native prairie style grasses and wildflowers. My place is a studio, and the only thing I chronically struggle with in it is my chronic clutter ability. Piles of papers love to stick together in my place.

Bagua review:

Prosperity: I have a bench in my corner that was given to me by a friend who turned into a frenemy. I wonder if I should clear it out, and purify the area. Also, add a hanging plant here with purple flowers or leaves.
Fame and Reputation: All of my closets are this gua. Be mindful of clearing out these areas. One poison arrow in the walk in that I’ve ‘cured’ with a butterfly mobile.
Partnership: Cleared out the books that I had in this corner. I wonder about the silver painted radiator in this area. Must ask an expert. Want to find a pillow to put in this area.
Creativity and Children: I have a silver Chagall image in this area. Maybe switch it out for something more colorful and playful.
Helpful people and Travel: One of the most cluttery areas of my house (my computer and ‘living room’ areas). Be conscious of removing all of the clutter and dust from these areas.
Career and Life Path: This is fairly clutter free. I don’t feel the need to do anything here currently.
Skills and Knowledge: My decluttering project is nearly done. Oddly, when I cleaned out the fridge and began getting rid of the bags of recycling that had been hanging out on my back porch for months, I saw more movement in this area of my life.
Family: I have a table that is falling apart in this area, and it’s really an end table rather than a real dining table. Maybe shop around for a nice sturdy table, with two nice chairs. I have beautiful green curtains in this area, and would like to dress it up even more.
Health: My hallway. Remove clutter, old associations, etc.

For August, I will focus on the prosperity gua.

that I need to strengthen are career and prosperity. I’ll do some work on this tomorrow. I’ll:

1. Fortify the missing prosperity corner with purple nailpolish.
2. Clean off the kitchen counter and fill the vase with fresh water.
3. Take a look at the areas and throw away and/or move stuff around (27 things)

Relationship gua: I should start looking for a pillow for that area, instead of books. I should take a picture of this to explain, but it’s a shelving unit with four cubbyholes and the one that is in the relationship area has books in it whereas the others have decorative pillows (the two that fit in children/creativity are a handmade pillow from my grandma and a children’s stuffed turtle pillow, and in the helpful people corner, I have my meditation cushion). I’d rather have a pillow there, as the books seem to make for lots of talk, discussion, theoretical arguments. To me, a pillow would symbolize something more comfortable and at home.

Makes me think of this Rumi poem:

A night full of talking that hurts,My worst held back secrets: everythinghas to do with loving and not loving.

This night will pass.Then we have work to do.

I clean that area out and put a book of Rumi poems and a pink rose candle from France there, and within a day a friend of mine (a classmate) calls me. I hadn’t talked to him in about eight months. So odd, he’s Muslim, Egyptian, hmmm. This just seemed like a highly unlike synchronistic occurrence, but fun. To bring some balance to the area, I put a book of Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems and a book of Chagall paintings.

I bought a couple of greeting cards that were from old French travel posters. One of them was for Nice and the other one is for Cannes. I put them in picture frames, and put Nice in my helpful people corner, and Cannes in my knowledge and self-cultivation corner. Get it?:)

The one for Nice is great. It says “meeting d’aviation” and shows a drawing of a woman holding a small bouquet of flowers flying a small plane over Nice. I’m fond of the one for Cannes, too. It’s of a flapper-looking woman sitting with a set of golf clubs agains a navy blue background with bright orange, green, and yellow flowers. I put it in a bright green frame. The blue is for knowledge and self-cultivation and green is for family, and as the guas are right next to each other, it’s suggested to link them together. I don’t want to learn to play golf, but I wouldn’t mind learning French and having a French husband (and of course, live in France.:))

I love seeing them when I’m walking around. They make me happy. And that’s the point of Feng Shui. Right?

and for awhile the anti-virus program was outdated, which meant for me that that might leave me vulnerable in real life as well. Leaving my computer vulnerable to viral attack just didn’t seem like a good idea. Time for both my computer and me to get some spiritual protection. This gua is about traveling, people (and angels) who come to your aid, and being treated fairly. I thought that renewing my anti-virus program would be a good way to fortify this energy, so I did that tonight.

It’s very kitschy and cute. I bought it at a shop in Vietnamtown. But the day before I got laid off, it got all tangled up. I remember the morning that I got the news, I thought of untangling it before I went to work and I didn’t bother.

Must untangle. Also, it’s green, and although green is compatible with this gua, purple is the main color. I may move it to the family section where the primary color is green, and put a plant there.

I am so grateful that Stephanie McWilliams from HGTV’s Fun Shui came and feng shuied my entire apartment. It’s an amazing space now and I can already tell a difference in my energy and my spirits.