Q&A Sunday: Books and Clutter

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Hello! I have read some of your posts on clutter and found them very interesting. I don’t have a lot of clutter in my home except I do have a lot of books. What are your thoughts on books and how this relates to clutter?

Thank you for your question! I think a lot of us tend to accumulate books. There are always a lot of new books you want to get, and people give you books...and suddenly you have way more than you’ll ever be able to read! I notice that I start to feel a little stressed around my books because I feel like there are so many that I should be reading. 

On one level, books can create a lot of clutter, so that’s something to think about. On another level, those books might be preventing you from purchasing and reading the books you really want to read, because you feel like you need to get through the books you already have. In this way, you might be limiting yourself. The books on your shelf served a purpose at one time, but that doesn’t mean they are useful to you now. Some of your books may have also been given to you by other people, and are not things that you really wanted in the first place.

Books also represent knowledge, wisdom, and information. This is true of fiction, too, since they often include metaphors that can be sources of wisdom. Something to pay attention to is whether you have any books that represent old ways of thinking. If you are holding onto books with ideas that no longer resonate with you, you may also be holding onto old ways of thinking that could be holding you back. It’s really important to revisit the structures in our lives, and choose which ones we want to keep and which ones we want to let go of. Letting go of books can be a beautiful way to let old ideas go as well. By making space on your bookshelf, you’re opening yourself up to new ideas and innovation.

I invite you (and everyone reading this!) to give away one book today. You can donate it to a used book store, your local library, or another organization that accepts used books. Choose a book that represents an old way of thinking, or a part of your life you're no longer resonating with, and let it go with the intention of making space to invite in something new. Instead of filling our lives with preconceived notions, we can make space and be an open container for new ideas.

How can you make space to receive something new, maybe something that you couldn’t have even imagined? 

by Anjie Cho

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Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui questions!

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Q&A Sunday: Closet in the Career Area

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Hi Anjie! I noticed that my closet is in the career area of my bedroom, and I’m wondering what that means. I do feel a little stuck in my career and am not sure what to do next, so I would like to know if that’s related.

Thanks so much for your question! Closets can be very interesting areas to look at from a feng shui perspective. Feng shui encourages us to peek in dark closets and corners of our homes and begin shifting the energy there. The area of the bagua map where a closet is can also tell us a lot, so a closet in Kan, also known as the career area, could very well give you clues about what is going on in your career.

I would encourage you to take a look at your closet and see what is going on inside. If you haven’t been using your closet, this could mean there are some issues you are not acknowledging. Sometimes closets that we ignore can represent areas of our lives that we don’t want to look at. If this is the case for your closet, maybe there is a career path that you haven’t seen yet. Are you open to seeing a new, different direction in your career?

Often closets can be magnets for clutter as well. If your closet is cluttered, you may be blocking new career opportunities. A closet full of clothes you haven’t worn in years is a source of stale, stuck energy. By going through your closet, you can shift the energy and welcome vibrant, life-affirming qi. 

A full closet could also mean that you are keeping yourself too busy to welcome new opportunities. If your closet, home, or schedule is too full, you have no room for anything new. This is true both literally and metaphorically. If you let go of some of the items in your closet and create a vacuum, the universe can fill it with something fresh and exciting. By letting go of old items, you are also encouraging your heart and mind to let go of old behaviors and beliefs that are no longer serving you. Go through the items in your closet and donate anything you haven’t worn in the last year or two. Even things that are no longer in good condition can often be recycled. 

As you start to clear out and shift the energy in the career area of your home, you may find that you have more clarity on what to do next in your career. I would also highly suggest working one-on-one with a feng shui practitioner, because they will be able to help you dig more deeply and give personalized recommendations based on your unique situation. 

by Anjie Cho

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Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui questions!

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Lonely Rooms

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The practice of feng shui is connected to how we move through our homes. Feng shui translates to “wind and water”; think about how each of those elements flows through a space. How do you connect with the spaces in your home? 

Good places to look at are any areas that are lonely or neglected. For example, my closet has been pretty lonely lately, since I’ve been spending so much more time at home and not wearing as many of my clothes. Clothing represents how we show up in the world, so that’s something to reflect on if you also have a lonely closet: how are you showing up in the world right now? To find another layer of meaning, I can look at what area of the bagua my closet is in, and reflect on what is going on in that area of my life.

Once you’ve identified a lonely room or an area of your home that’s been neglected, notice what’s happening there. Is there dust accumulating? Are you tossing stuff randomly and using it as storage? Try personifying that area and thinking about how that room might feel given how you are treating it. You can start by recognizing that and apologizing. Also, notice if it symbolizes anything in your life. It may not be symbolic, but it’s something to look at and be curious about. 

This idea also extends to the people in your life. Especially right now, a lot of people are feeling lonely. Even as an introvert, after months without contact, I’m starting to miss people! Think about who in your life may be lonely, and how you can connect with them. You may not necessarily need to apologize to them for not being in touch, but you can offer them some attention. By connecting with someone else, you’ll also receive something in return.

Even though we each have our own little bubbles of energy, we’re actually all interconnected. When you start to acknowledge and care for the lonely rooms in your home, the lonely people in your life, or the lonely aspects of yourself, the insight and joy that comes from that experience radiates. For example, if you start to pay attention to a lonely room, that joy starts to permeate the rest of your house. Then it starts to permeate your heart, and then the people in your life, and beyond. When we make a change, we don’t just affect the lives of people we know; we can also profoundly change the world.

Start with your home; that’s what feng shui is about. What can you do about the lonely rooms in your home? Notice how the energy you give to these rooms starts to resonate out to other areas of your life. 

by Anjie Cho

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Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui questions!

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com