Feng Shui Anyone?

Well, the photos just don't stop tonight! This is our entry hall - in an uncharacteristically organized state, which is why I was inspired to photograph it.

I dabble in feng shui, and practitioners believe that the way the entrance to your home looks is one of the most important things. Well, seeing a mess first thing when you come home certainly can be a downer!

I read in some comic book (I think that it was Naisen Kanssa i.e. a Finnish comic book called "With a Woman") that it is possible for a woman to both believe and not believe in horoscopes at the same time. And I think that's true! It's very hard to explain, it's kind of like when we were old enough to know that there was no Santa Claus but we still had fun pretending that there was one. And in our excitement we even forgot that we were pretending and for a little while we still really believed.

I was never really into the bagua, i.e. the sections that a home is supposed to be divided into. It means that one corner of your home is your "wealth corner" and one is your "relationship corner" and if you have a pile of junk in that corner, it can cause problems in that area of your life.

It wasn't until I read the book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston that I really became fascinated. I've read the book twice and I'd really like to read it again. It's about getting rid of all the things that you don't want or need in your life - including dirt in your house, stuff you don't use or want, people who no longer contribute positively to your life and even food that does not contribute to your health. It's about not living in the past and about looking towards the future.

When you start to think about it, it's amazing how many of us really do live in the past! Memories are very important for us. That's OK as long as we don't stop longing for new experiences - instead of re-living old ones!

What I most loved about Ms. Kingston's book was this: she says that ideally, we should know exactly where every single one of our possessions is. We should know exactly what's in our closets, in our basement, in our attic, etc. If we do, we can easily make a "mental connection" with our possessions.

It all sounds very New Age, but to me it kind of makes sense. If I think about it, it does somehow bother me if I don't know where something is. And it feels really good if everything is well organized. There's a certain intuitive logic to it.

The main point of feng shui is that our surroundings affect our feelings - and I'm sure that no one can deny that. It's probaly scientifically proven. Think about how depressing it is to be in a room with inadequate lighting or in a very messy room. It may even cause depression! Clearing your clutter is a step towards improving your mental health! :-)

I spent the past three days going through a big pile of old magazines. I ripped out some articles and then dumped the magazines. Felt great! Eventually I'll also need to do the same to my magazine and newspaper clippings. I'm starting to slowly become more and more modern: I'm starting to realize that whatever info I need can be found on-line and that I don't need to keep it on pieces of paper.

I'm a very cluttered person, i.e. I have tended to keep everything, but I'm now working on changing and growing also in that respect. :-)

Pink Lady, signing out - for now!