Feng Shui for Real Life

Doing the Feng Shui Fling

On New Year's Day, I posted on my Feng Shui For Real Life page on Facebook that a great way to get the year off to a prosperous start was to do the "Feng Shui Fling." Here's how it works -

Take a large plastic trash bag, move quickly through your home, and fling 27 things into the bag. Things you don't need, don't want, or don't know why you are keeping. Open drawers and cabinets. Dig down under the sink. Clear closets. Don't analyze, don't hesitate - just fling. Then take the bag right out to the trash before you change your mind. Three is an especially auspicious number in Feng Shui, and because the number 27 includes multiple sets of three, your Feng Shui Fling will be especially prosperous.

Do I practice what I preach? Last year, my big New Year's Day "flinging" project was my garage. As it is for many of my clients, my garage occupies the Helpful People Area of the bagua; that is, the area in the lower right hand corner of my home. You can download a bagua to fit the shape of your home from the Basics page on my website www.FengShuiForRealLife.com.) This is the area that relates to your clients, mentors, and travel plans, and in general is important for attracting people who will support you as you move toward your life goals. So it's an especially important place to keep clutter-free. But how many of us can say we keep our garages clutter-free on a daily basis? Mine was certainly due for a major clearing.

It took most of the day, which was OK because after the Rose Parade I'm about done with football-related events for the day, and it also took a lot of trash bags set up for recycling, donations, and just plain trash. But, by the end of the day the garage was clean and beautiful, with lots of open space for new energy to flow into the house. The added benefit was that one car didn't have to sit outside anymore.

The Feng Shui result? In the first week of that year, my book, the Feng Shui Quick Guide For Home and Office, went international when I received an order of books from an international library service in Singapore. That same week I was contacted by two new clients. Was it cause and effect or simply coincidence? I invite you to clean out your garage next weekend -- or any other cluttered room or space in your house that you have been avoiding -- and see for yourself.

For New Year's Day 2012, my clutter-clearing project focused around the closet in my home office. What will happen as a result of my flinging this year? Stay tuned, I'll share results in a future post.

Feng Shui to the Rescue

I received an e-mail from a long-time client that contained both good and bad news. First, the good news: she read my article about clearing office clutter and spent a whole day clearing out excess files and everything else that didn't belong in her office. A few days later, out of the blue she got a call from the Vice President of Communications for a significant trade group that works on consumer issues, who was referred to her by another client. The VP hired my client almost on the spot to write a major speech for her organization's CEO. It's a fast turn around project that will double her income this month. My client credited her success to a good Feng Shui clutter clearing, but acknowledged that it has taken her longer to "dig out" from clutter than she would like. But each time she tackles a room, something good happens to her as a result.

So what's the bad news? The reason she was so thrilled to sign this new client was because after many years of running her own successful consulting business, this was the first month she seriously wondered in she could pay her bills. Her major client lost its funding source and couldn't renew her retainer contract, and two new clients who seemed like "sure bets" ended up not having enough money to proceed. I can't stop thinking about this story because I found it to be such a startling illustration of how our difficult economic situation is having a rippling effect. And I wondered whether Feng Shui can come to the rescue when someone is facing an financial crisis.

In Feng Shui, nothing new flows into your life until you make room for it.

This weekend, I embarked on a massive office clutter-clearing project, and now the two file cabinets and two closets in my office are in amazing order. I shredded what seemed like tons of old documents, took a bunch of things to the local women's shelter, and loaded my trashcans with the rest.

And yes, I did see an immediate result. Yesterday I received a call from a new client who wanted to set up a home consultation, and this morning there was an e-mail from another potential client.

So here's my Feng Shui challenge to you - clear out one file cabinet, one drawer, or one closet this week and let me now if anything changes for you.