Declutter and Organize Your “Chi”

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Declutter and Organize Your “Chi”

Want to get better “flow” and harmony in your environment? Over the past several years feng shui has become pretty well known in this country, depending on where you live of course. (I meet people who’ve never heard of it, nor other systems, books, speakers, methods and ideas that seem commonplace to others and me!).

The April issue of Organic Style magazine has a great article titled, “House Rules” identifying 3 major players (feng shui, from China, vastu from India, and wabi-sabi from Japan) for “Boosting the feel-good factor in your home with a bit of wisdom from the East” by James Servin.

WHAT’S “CHI”?
Chi (chee) is natural energy. This energy runs through our bodies as well as through our homes and through all space and things everywhere. The philosophies and methods discussed in the magazine article show how to influence the natural energy “chi” through placement of furniture, plants, colors, texture and other items, creating balance and harmony in everyday life, comparing the three styles.

Now having said that, I must profess, that I personally don’t much use feng shui, from China or the other two decorating philosophies mentioned, vastu from India, and wabi-sabi from Japan. Quite honestly, I don’t want items hung on my ceiling and stuck in my closets that are not part of my personality or décor. I’ve dabbled with them, but for me, it’s my Midwest-Heartland “Func(tional)Way” that works best to restore my chi. Gloves on, prep tools at ready… dig in, declutter and reorganize, decorate and move things around where they feel good to me, eat some dark chocolate with almonds, talk to a friend and enjoy my home! Please, keep reading.

BLASPHAMY!
I’ve had friends tell me I shouldn’t say things like this, that these methods each have merit, that everything has its place and everyone needs different things. I absolutely agree. I want people to know and to use everything that’s out there, past, present and new to help them bring peace, joy and flow into their lives. But my experience as a Professional Organizer has shown me over and over again that bottom line, if you don’t do the basic work of decluttering and organizing, no philosophy for moving chi around is going to help.

How to I know this? A) Common sense, B) I’ve been hired to clean out closets and rooms where there were all the signature tools and techniques from one or more of the mentioned decorating philosophies… under heaps of clutter; in back of coats and vacuum cleaners, hidden and ripped, hanging broken and mangled behind “chi gone bad.”

WHAT WENT WRONG?
Lack of attention… to intention. One of the core teachings in any of these philosophies… as in life… is INTENTION. So, one great reminder I get from these decorating styles is that when I place furniture, plants, colors, textures, etc. around, I need to do so with intention. And, when I do this with intention, I remember it, I “own” it and what it means to and for me.

"Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention." ~ Greg Anderson

GOT ROCKS?
An example of this is of a woman who offered me some feng shui services. She said that my hallway had too many doors (7 to be exact) and that they were pulling my energy every which way as I walked through my hall many times a day. She suggested I put rocks on either side of the hallway to “ground” me, to connect me to “earth” chi. I did it, I like rocks. What I realized in this process is that in the conversation, the “attention” to doing this, and my personally doing it, getting and placing rocks on each end of my hall way, it put “my focus” on this act and now the “intention” into the act and the meaning behind the rocks – the why, the “chi” of it all. So, every time I walk through my hallway I see the rocks and what do I think?… “I’m grounded.” Intention.

Intention in every area of your life is a must if you are to gain focus and clarity. Intention in your decisions, actions and choices. Intention is “What do you want to happen here?” “What do you ‘intend’ to happen?” “What is the ‘purpose’ of this?”

THE BOTTOM-LINE
The article states that all 3 philosophies agree that clutter is bad, but beyond that, differences abound.

After reading about the differences I must say that if I have to choose one over the others I’m more of a wabi-sabi gal. The definition used for this traditional design philosophy of Japan is “Imperfect is beautiful.” Yeah, that’s me! I’ve been calling it Perfect Imperfection for years! Shoot, I should have come up with some foreign language wordage. It would have sold much faster!

Whether it’s your belief (and scientific reality), as the Jains, a religious group in India, believe that divinity dwells within each and every one of us, and that every inanimate object has energy-- or your experience -- clutter creates a blur of energy distracting and confusing the mind and limiting clarity of action and decision. Way bad chi.

There is no perfect system and every practitioner will offer different ideas. I watched one of the plethora of new TV shows on decorating where they had three professional feng shui decorators bring their idea of perfect flow to the same room. They gave three very different ideas; some made no practical sense at all, even to the host of the show. (No, I’m not picking on feng shui; the other two practices are just not as well known or used.) Bottom line here is that some techniques are fads and when the river is flowing with a trend a lot of people jump in to get their fish, but when the river dries up a good decorator is still a good decorator waiting to help you. If you need help redecorating, get referrals and hire a decorator for a consultation. Good decorators naturally use the best flow of the room and space. Or, find one who utilizes one of these “ancient practices” too, many do now, and get the best of all worlds.

Good decorating is just common sense. Good use of what you have is common sense, practical application and whatever brings the most joy to you. And, it will change and shift over time. That’s another article.

RECAP
1) So, first, declutter and clear out everything that does not support you and your joy. (Please recycle so that others can use what you don’t want of course.)
2) Organize everything you can into the “homes” they belong.
3) Then, learn, read, study all the ways to make your space flow better and work for you.
4) Hire by referral someone who listens to you and works with your personality.

Please note that I have also been in homes and offices where they’ve already hired a Professional Organizer and because the organizer didn’t listen to the client’s needs, the client still didn’t have a “functional” system and needed help again. Maybe the more important part of decorating and energy balancing is listening.

The article from Organic Style says that wabi-sabi has been called “the feng shui of the new millennium.” If that’s true, you’ll be seeing ads for wabi-sabi practitioners popping up everywhere soon! From what I can tell, it’s what many of us have been doing all our lives… breathe, enjoy your home, make it work for you, be okay with, enjoy and honor the worn and useful, home is a retreat… create happiness by embracing imperfection. It says something about our society too. We need to let go of being perfect and doing, doing, doing. Being, being, being is the only way to go to keep peace of mind, positive energy flow and good chi. Clean out what doesn’t belong and love the rest.

One last reminder… don’t rearrange and decorate around your clutter, especially if you’re hiring someone to help you, because it won’t be “chi-p!”

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

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