Clutter’s Effects on Your Life — How clutter affects you and what to do about it

Creating a healthy, energetic home or office relies on diligence. It’s much easier to let your home or office become cluttered and messy than it is to keep on top of papers, throw out old magazines, or otherwise dispose of the things that you no longer need, want, or use.

For that reason many people don’t bother with this kind of routine maintenance. And that’s how Spring Cleaning should be looked at: maintenance for your home.

Now, I’m not going to tell you what to do for your personal Spring Cleaning because only you know if you are harboring clothes in your closet from 30 years ago, or if your addiction to paper has gotten out of hand. YOU ARE THE EXPERT at your own mess. Give yourself permission to clean it up and let go of it.

Let’s go over some basics about dirty, cluttered homes versus clean and organized homes…

What does a dirty, cluttered home do to you?

It makes you feel tired. A cluttered home is a visual and psychic drain. All that stuff makes you fatigued. One of the most fatigued people I know simply can NOT throw anything away. Antiques are her specialty. Everything is a “collectible.” But that does not mean SHE has to collect it. This client is slowly letting go of her addiction to acquiring and is finding her energy is rebounding.

It makes you feel hopeless. Simply put, too much stuff is overwhelming and we can’t handle it all, so we throw our psychological hands in the air in frustration. This leads to that hopeless, it’s-all-inevitable feeling.

It makes you poor. Yep, that’s right: POOR. Ever notice those homes of the mega-wealthy? They’re a study in restraint. You notice their homes because stuff isn’t everywhere.

Time and time again, I notice the environments of people who are struggling to make ends meet, and I notice that they have an overwhelmingly HUGE baseball cap collection, some kind of collectible that’s taken over the house, or too many pets. Get rid of all but the most meaningful things. You can do it.

How does clutter hurt you? It makes you feel out of control in your life. That’s because the stuff is in control and you’re not. Put yourself in the driver’s seat of your life and take control of all THAT STUFF by donating it, throwing it away, or organizing it — and get everyone in your home in on the act.

What does a clean, organized home do for you?

It gives you a sense of calm. Imagine walking in to a room where the tops are cleared off and there are no papers and mess scattered about. How does it make you feel? That’s the AAAHHHH feeling you get when you walk into a hotel room…it’s neat and you can see the room and not all the stuff.

It gives you back your health. Dirty, cluttered houses can make you fatigued, constipated, have back pain, and congested. Not just because there’s stuff everywhere, but because there is dust on all that stuff — and dust is nothing but negative energy. Unclog your home and your health might be better to boot!

It gives you wealth. Think about the times when you were doing well financially… As money worries piled up, did you ever make the correlation that so has all the stuff around you? Get rid of it and you will see financial flow again.

It puts you in control of your life. Suddenly, order appears in the Universe, you can find things, the feeling of being overwhelmed isn’t omnipresent and you look forward to things; life is sweet again.

 What do you want from life? Check the list below for ideas on where clutter is stopping the flow in your life.

LOVE — Clear out the SOUTHWEST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter here can manifest as problems with relationships or can create health problems such as a large stomach, reproductive or elimination system problems or bulging middle.

MONEY – Clear out the SOUTHEAST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter here can create problems with lack of savings (accumulated wealth) and difficulties in the hips, legs and knees. Start a savings program — no matter how small.

FRIENDS, FAME, RECOGNITION — Clear out the SOUTH corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter here can create problems with friends, social contacts, as well as health problems with vision and heart issues. Brighten and lighten this area up and create open space (air feeds fire!) and watch stress come down and fun rise.

HEALTH, FAMILY GROWTH — Clear out the EAST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Problems here result in difficulties with family members, tension in the house, problems with skin, lungs, and feet. Beautify with water images to feed the wood energy of this sector and improve health and family relationships.

CAREER, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES — Clear out the NORTH corner of your home, bedroom, living room, desk and office. Problems and clutter in this area creates problems with kidneys and ears. Brighten and lighten this area, create space to create flow for the water energy here that brings career and business opportunities.

CHILDREN/BABIES, CREATIVITY, PROJECTS TO FLOURISH — Clear out the WEST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office to watch projects come to fruition. Clutter in this area creates problems with children, the mouth and teeth. Add metal to this area to create movement in projects and help children.

EDUCATION, PERSONAL GROWTH, SPIRITUALITY, WRITING — Clear out the NORTHEAST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter in this area keeps you from thinking clearly, making good decisions and keeps you feeling anxious and uncertain about your life. It also affects your hands. Keeps hands in good condition with lotions, manicures and watch how you think more clearly.

TRAVEL, MENTORS, HELPFUL PEOPLE — Clear out the NORTHWEST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter in this area creates problems with men, the man of the house, and with finding people to help you and assist you in life. Excess mess can also create problems with the head, such as high blood pressure and headaches. Open up this space and the world opens up for you!

Books that can help you declutter AND have good feng shui

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. EXCELLENT book every since feng shui enthusiast should own. This is my hands-down favorite.

Lillian Too’s 168 Ways to Declutter Your Home by Lillian Too. The guru of feng shui (and my personal teacher) explains the connection of clutter and feng shui — including mental and spiritual clutter.

Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life by Mike Nelson. Nelson talks about the mental health side of clutter and how to get out from under the control of clutter.

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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Prepare Your Feng Shui for the New Year

As the New Year approaches, you may find yourself thinking over the past year and you may be counting your blessings or thinking about what you could have done differently. If you’re like me, you might do a little of both. Whatever the case, it’s important to start the New Year off on a positive, hope-filled note.This can include everything from stocking the refrigerator to clearing out old junk from the closets. If you’ve missed the January 1st deadline, don’t worry: the Chinese New Year isn’t until a few weeks later…. so you’ve still got time!

To greet the New Year, set aside a couple of hours to give your house, bedroom, or office a New Year Blitz. Just remember, you are inviting a very special guest to your house: The New Year. So treat your house the way you would a very important dignitary. This is a new year of your life so welcome it in a grand way!

Take the list below in hand and check off the items one by one! Are you ready? Then, let’s get ready for the New Year! Remember to get everyone in the house in on the act.

OUT WITH THE OLD

1. De-clutter
Grab a laundry basket. Next, set a timer and take it with you from room to room. Set it for five minutes. Now, start throwing out old papers, magazines, empty bottles of shampoo from the bathroom, old clothes you know you’ll never wear again! Do it.

Got CDs you never listen to? Throw those out or donate them to charity. Have some old coffee mugs that don’t match or odd drinking glasses still hanging around in your cabinets? Pitch ‘em.

When in doubt, throw it out. Don’t forget to look under the bed, too! And toss that lipstick you haven’t worn in two years! Remember to clean out the pantry, too, and toss that half-empty box of Rice Krispies that’s gone stale.

2. Sweep or vacuum
Get the old energy out by making the floors clean.

3. Do the laundry
Don’t have dirty clothes hanging around. You can throw in a load or two while you declutter. Be sure to fold and put the clean clothes away.

4. Clean the bathroom
Make it sparkle. You don’t want a nasty mess to greet the next year of your life!

5. Empty all trashcans
Don’t want last years’ trash hanging around, do you? Toss, toss, toss.

6. Clean out the refrigerator
Got a half-empty jar of apple butter? Get rid of it. You don’t want to go into the New Year with old food or a moldy science project lurking in the fridge.

7. Clear out visual clutter
Too much stuff everywhere? Clear off the counters in the bathrooms and kitchen. Clear off your desk and dust it. Pitch the sticky notes and papers and things taped everywhere! You can do it. Don’t forget the refrigerator! Make it a blank slate.

Make as much space as possible. You cannot bring in new things if there is no room for it and we want a fantastic year, right? Then make your space “open” for the abundance of the New Year!

8. Yard work
Make sure the yard is picked up and the front door step is swept and clear.

9. Change the sheets and towels
Put clean sheets on all the beds on New Year’s Eve and clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. New sheets are even better.

10. Clean the car
This is what gets you around during the year. Drive through a car wash, take out the trash and do a quick cleaning.

All done? Wow, doesn’t that feel good! Now you’re ready for the next step.

IN WITH THE NEW!

1. Fill your pantry and kitchen
Stock the refrigerator with food and make sure the pantry is also stocked. It is bad feng shui to have an empty refrigerator and pantry. If you have canisters in the pantry or on the countertops, be sure to fill these.

2. Got citrus?
Oranges are excellent symbols for the New Year and the Chinese often celebrate the New Year by rolling oranges (symbols of gold) into the house. Place a big bowl of 8, 9, or 10 (the numbers of prosperity!) oranges in the living room or central location in the house next to dishes of nuts or candies to symbolize an abundant, fruitful home.

3. Buy a new plant
Put a beautiful new plant in the East (health & family relationships) sector of your house or office to symbolize a healthy beginning. You can also display some beautiful flowers here to symbolize your good health in the coming year.

4. Welcome good news
Place a golden bell in the NW corner of your home, office, or bedroom to bring good tidings from helpful people. Like old school bells? If so, place one of these in the NW corner of your yard for good news from helpful people.

5. Hang up new calendars
What better way to greet the New Year than by throwing out the old one? Take down all of last years’ calendars.

6. Fill your wallet
You don’t want to go into the New Year with an empty wallet. Put some money in your wallet — or better yet — go and buy a new wallet (red is the best!) or purse and start your financial off with new energy!

7. Invite a toad to your house
Place an old, broken clay pot upside down next to a water spout so a toad can make its home here. Toads are believed to invite money into the household; they’re especially nice by the door. You can also place figurines of toads by the door.

8. Feed the birds
Birds are excellent feng shui and believed to bring good news. Fill your feeders or put out a feeder for the New Year.

9. Have fun and celebrate
Fun is good feng shui. A happy vibrant home or space is a good space, so plan a party of some kind of happy gathering. Remember, a home or office with good feng shui is easy to spot it’s the one where everyone goes and doesn’t want to leave! Make your space that kind of place!

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2009
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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

WANT TO PUBLISH THIS ARTICLE?
You have permission to publish this article as long as the tagline above is included and no changes are made to the article. A courtesy copy of your publication or link would be appreciated.