"One's home is a symbolic mirror of one's inner self, of unconscious wishes and emotions." Carl Jung
Who you are and the choices you make will have a direct effect on you, because space is like a map, reflecting you are. While I was in training as a practitioner, I had one of my teachers come and Feng Shui my apartment. What I wanted was a long-term relationship that would turn into a marriage. I had just broken off an engagement with a man whom I lived with within what was originally my apartment. When I first got the apartment, I had a pull-out sofa. When my then-fiance moved in, we got a murphy bed that looked like a beautiful entertainment center in the living room. The second room was both a dining room and an office. After he moved out, I rearranged the apartment according to my understanding of Feng Shui as I was learning it. Honestly, what I wanted was a "real" bedroom, but I couldn't figure out how to do that with the configuration of my two-room apartment. When my Feng Shui teacher came to the house, he asked me a couple of questions. In looking at the Murphy bed, he said, "a murphy bed is temporary. If you want a permanent relationship, you need a permanent bed and bedroom." It was exactly what I wanted! We took the table and other furniture out of the dining room and placed the mattress from the Murphy bed on the floor and made it the bedroom.
As for my desk, my teacher suggested placing it between two bay windows in the living room. I hadn't thought of that because it was where my fiance's desk was, and even though it was no longer there, the energy was still there, and I couldn't see the space as being available! These two changes had huge impacts on my physical space but also impacted me emotionally and physically. By rearranging the furniture, something was rearranged inside me. Honestly, this is not true for everyone, but my teacher left, and I proceeded to cry. What I came to realize is that by moving the furniture and energy in my physical space, I was able to release old feelings of hurt, sadness, abandonment, grief, and make room for something new. On a deep level, what I did was align with my Soul. That's the power of Feng Shui. And I did meet the man who is now my husband. This month we are celebrating seven years of marriage and five years of living in a beautiful house! By adjusting our external space, we adjust our internal space. And we start by looking at the exterior choices we make and what it says about us. To me, Feng Shui is a great metaphor. An excellent place to start in your own home is to look at the artwork you have on your walls. As you look at each item, ask yourself:
What's the story behind it?
Who gave it to me, or where did I get it?
How does it make me feel? Does it bring happy memories? Or is it associated with a painful experience or relationship that no longer exists because of unresolved conflicts, drifting away, separation, or divorce?
Do I like it? If not, why do I keep it?
What does it tell me about myself?
I often see paintings of a single woman with her back to the viewer and looking off into the distance in the bedrooms of women who are looking for a long-term relationship. Maybe they don't want a relationship. If they do, they need to remove the painting and replace it with an image of a pair of love birds, for example. Or place a pair of red roses or candles in that area and envision what it is they do want.
You can also do this with your furniture. Think of everything you do as a reflection or metaphor, telling you something about yourself that you didn't know or a clue to what you do want, just like my Murphy bed.
Feel free to share any insights or results you have as you look at your space to see what it is reflecting about you. I would love to hear from you!
Everyday Feng Shui. It's all right here.
With love and blessings, Kate
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