“Because we can not live without creating chaos on a regular basis, it’s important to understand the two kinds of chaos. Active chaos is the kind of chaos we see spinning around a chef as he prepares a feast, or around a painter as she creates a masterpiece. Active chaos has to occur to birth anything. The key to keeping chaos active is clean up the mess and reorganize our materials between creative bursts. Then, when the next wave of creativity hits, we are ready to dive in.”
–Terah Kathryn Collins, “Home Design with Feng Shui A-Z”
I truly began to understand that keeping my life and environment free of clutter is vital to keeping my energy vibrating fully when I began learning the principles of Feng Shui.
Dating back to at least 4000 B.C., the Chinese have oriented their lives around the principles of Feng Shui. Feng Shui means literally Wind-Water and followers believe it is a way of using the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to improve one’s life by receiving Chi (or ‘qi’) and keeping it flowing.
A common perspective of Feng Shui is the physical/tangible clutter in our environment is a metaphor for the clutter we have elsewhere in our lives…and that clutter is blocking the flow of ‘attractive’ energy to and around us.
In last week’s ‘Success Tip’ I shared a few of my ‘attractive rituals.’ Another one is to repeat throughout the day “I keep my ‘attractive’ energy flowing every day by clearing clutter.”
I use 3 easy and simple ‘Attractive Activities’ to keep clutter cleared.
The first of 3 ‘Attractive Activities’ I use to keep clutter cleared is ‘Releasing My Shoulds’
A long time ago, I read a bumper sticker that stated “Don’t Should On Yourself.” I took that guidance to heart.
It’s important to remember that life is going to become more abundant. Not less abundant.
The abundance in my life first appeared as not having time to read and respond to emails or return phone calls in a timely way. The messages started stacking up along with the ‘shoulds’ (I ‘should’ call that person back; I ‘should’ sit down and answer emails, etc.) and each one of those ‘shoulds’ had weight to it. Eventually, the joy of attracting abundance was lost and buried under the pile of ‘shoulds’. So before I was able to clear the physical clutter, I first had to choose to release myself of the ‘shoulds.’
I chose to do the best I could each day and appreciate myself for what I accomplished…rather than focusing on what I had not done. And, as I released myself from the burden of the ‘shoulds’ I found the energy to start clearing the piles…little by little, day by day.
The 2nd of the 3 ‘Attractive Activities’ I use to keep clutter cleared is ‘Scheduling De-Cluttering Time Every Day.’
For example, every day (just like you) I receive an abundance of email requests, announcements, invitations and notifications. In order to keep this information from overwhelming me (and draining my energy), I schedule a certain amount of time each day to review this information to determine if I want to take immediate action, save it or delete it.
I’ve created Folders on my computer desktop to categorize the items that I want to save for future reference. Once the information is in those Folders, I don’t have to think about it again until I am ready to take action on that information. This information and any other invitations on which I will take action are scheduled into my calendar and then flagged in my email system as having been scheduled. Everything else is immediately deleted.
I choose how much time I want to give to clearing the clutter each day. Some days it is more and some days less. As long as I am clearing something, I know I am keeping my energy moving and staying ‘attractive.’
The 3rd of the 3 ‘Attractive Activities’ I use is to play the ‘Clutter Clearing Game.’
I play this game every day by asking myself these questions:
1. How many items can I clear today?
2. When will I schedule 15 minutes today to clear my clutter?
3. What reward or prize will I give myself for winning the Clutter Clearing Game today?
Each day, in addition to whatever conscious rewards I intend to give to myself, I receive surprise gifts of abundance almost immediately after clearing my clutter.
One of the valuable gifts I received was learning I could attract more abundance into my life by clearing clutter.
One day, I started to de-clutter my closet and asked myself what I was willing to give away in order to be able to attract abundance to buy something better. I noticed that everything in my closet was something I enjoyed wearing and did not want to give away. I already felt more abundant!
I decided instead to throw away paperwork I no longer needed. Within a day or two of clearing the paperwork clutter, I realized that I felt more satisfied with myself and stopped feeling the urge to shop. I no longer felt that I was lacking in any way. I gave the money I saved for clothes shopping as donations to charities instead.
Now, if I choose to shop for clothes, a home decoration, or any other item, I make it a game to identify something I will give away to charity.
Chi-Master Valerie M. shares her experience of becoming more ‘attractive’ by de-cluttering: “While setting up my new office. I felt it was the perfect time for de-cluttering. I felt like I was weeding my beautiful garden. I purchased a very useful desk for my sewing machines. That is the only item I added to the room. Otherwise, I enjoyed moving things out. I set up my files and threw away tons of paper clutter. Now, my room feels inviting. It feels like a place where I can focus and accomplish a lot. I already feel accomplished! I am noticing that the peace I feel in my office is continuing into other rooms, as well. I have been adding to my ‘give-away bag’ every day. My bedroom is back to being a peaceful sanctuary and I am even thinking of rearranging the furniture for a new flow of energy. What a wonderful gift!”
How do you de-clutter to keep your ‘attractive’ energy flowing? Thank you for sharing your tips using the Comments section below so we can all become more ‘attractive.’
*“Home Design with Feng Shui A-Z” by Terah Kathryn Collings, copyright ©1999 Terah Kathryn Collins, published by Hay House, Inc., P.O. Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100, 800/654-5125.
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Stacey Hall,
Go For Yes Success Strategist, Speaker, Best-Selling Author
CEO, Chi-To-Be!, LLC