After increasing and collecting things throughout life, there comes a time when we are faced with shrinkage. Overwhelmed by homework? How do you decide what stays and what goes? Better to adopt a system and work with a pattern. Feng Shui comes to the rescue with several of these systems. One is the energy pattern of the five elements, also called the five dynamics, Water, wood, fire, land Y metal.
• As you contemplate your approach, let your ideas germinate in a crystal bowl of clear water.
• Next, try a fountain and use the energy of the flowing water to make your next move.
• Use wood energy plants to help with decision making and flexibility. Plants that grow upward are better than downed plants. Flowering plants or bouquets symbolize the blossoming of future achievements.
• If a lot of unwanted stuff accumulates, you can visualize a good fire and watch everything catch fire. Celebrate with a toast to minimalism! Since the energy of fire gives joy and charisma, wear a red shirt, light a candle, and work under bright light to illuminate your project, as well as your mental acuity.
• The energy of the Earth will help to stabilize the emotions that explode with the objects laden with memory. Donations are enriching and community oriented. Garage sale of collectibles or real estate sales are neighborhood events and bring people together.
• Metal is the final, consolidation and contracting energy. Metal will help you focus and take pride in your downsizing efforts by closing the chapter on excesses and lightening the burden of possessions. Create your own protocol and adhere to your organizing principles.
Are you still overwhelmed? Try additional patterns. Feng Shui recommends involving all the senses:
• For visual satisfaction, create to-do lists that you can check off on the go. Use colored notebooks or markers.
• Play uplifting music and listen to your favorite songs. You could sing while you sort through your old CDs or audio tapes.
• For olfactory stimulation, essential oils have a wide range of beneficial fragrances; try rosemary for mental clarity, wild orange or other citrus oil to boost your energy, lemon for cleansing, eucalyptus for deep breathing, geranium for decision making, and many others for multiple benefits.
• Your taste buds will wake up if you put a drop of peppermint oil in a glass of water.
• Your sense of touch is a useful sorting tool if you touch each item and wonder, do I need it? I love it. Is it a yes, a no, or a maybe?
File cabinets and boxes of papers are the most difficult to classify and organize. We like to work with categories and find that the feng shui bagua is helpful in setting up separate units for what needs to be attached. The eight or nine units of the bagua will accommodate everything from family and community to business and financial records. If you plan to write autobiographies, keep all related materials in the legacy category. Important cards and letters can be grouped and kept in a relationship box. Label the boxes carefully on the outside to see the contents at a glance. Arrange them in a bagua pattern with “Now” immediate as the most accessible boxes and “Future” in the far corner. Your brain will reward you with easy access and a readily available memory pattern.
