When life starts to feel a bit static, begin by adding a breath of fresh air to your environment. Make simple changes to your home that reflect your continuing growth as an individual
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Things feel stale in my life. Even though I keep busy and have lots to do, I seem to be stuck in a rut. I crave change, but I don’t know what type of change I need. Can you suggest anything I can do in my home to help me make some shifts?
Change is important and we all need it from time to time, but too much change can be stressful and hard to manage, and no change at all can be dull and boring. Small changes in your environment can enliven the energy in your home without overpowering your sense of order.
I often hear from people that they had their home “feng shui’d” many years ago. While that may have been exactly what they needed at that time, chances are they have changed and their homes probably need a change too. In other words, much has likely happened in their lives since then, and the feng shui that worked in the past no longer works in the present.
Change is good
Have you ever felt as if you needed a change in your appearance? We think nothing of changing our clothing to match where we are going, or, if we live on the mainland, we automatically change them seasonally. Maybe you thought to try a new hairstyle or hair color. The reasons for changing your physical environment are similar to the reasons for needing a change in your physical appearance — you are evolving and changing.
In your home, the change could be something as simple as moving the trashcan to another area of the room or changing your overall color scheme, duvet covers, curtains, a rug, or a pillow, even your furniture, to create a new and exciting experience in a room. When you change something in your physical environment, you force yourself to move differently, change your routine, or gain a new perspective, supporting change in your life generally.
Experience a new awareness
Changing anything gives you the opportunity to experience a new awareness, and you can do more than clean things up or make things neat (although that is important). By making simple changes to the physical environment, you engage with it in a different way, sometimes unearthing parts of your personality you forgot about. Incorporate the following simple ideas that resonate with you. Commit to keeping your home alive and letting it grow with you!
1. Rearrange the items you have on all the surfaces in your home, including coffee tables, shelves and mantles. Put statues and figurines in different places or groupings.
2. Place all the plants in the home in areas different from their original spots. Plants have a consciousness and do not always respond well to change, so if you move a plant that was thriving in one spot and it does not thrive in the new space, return it to its original spot, and perhaps change the pot it was in.
3. Change your bedding color scheme. A new color in the bedroom can enhance your sleep and spark physical intimacy with your partner, bringing new energy and a new vibe.
4. Change the color of your sofa pillows.
5. Change your welcome rug, whether it is outside or inside the home. Make sure it looks and feels different from the old one. As far as the “right” color, just find something you like.
Using color to make change is always a good place to start. Color is a universal non-verbal language that can create a healthy and happy environment, and each season evokes new colors, encouraging us to be mindful that change is always occurring. Some colors and hues encourage certain activities. For instance, warm colors like red, yellows, and oranges or earth tones like brown and beige, work well in your living room, as they encourage people to sit around and talk. Even if you already have these colors on your walls or your furniture, going up or down a hue can make a world of difference.
During the Christmas and Chanukah holidays, we typically experience changes in the environment because of the decorations we put up. When the space is different, it enlivens us, even if only for a short time. Any change takes a room out of the routine and supports us to do likewise by trying new and different things in our lives.
Acknowledge change
When you last redecorated your home, you aligned and adjusted it to suit your family or yourself at that time. Each time you change something, it is an acknowledgment of your growth and evolution, keeping you in the moment and mindful of your journey.
Even our concept of what is perfect changes as we do. Things are always great until it is time to change them. Stay present and make choices that better align with who you are in the now.
Use your home to support your life. Change doesn’t have to be dramatic; even the smallest bit of change counts. Give yourself the gift of support through your home!
Alice Inoue is the founder and Chief Happiness Officer at Happiness U, an educational establishment, offering dozens of classes such as Feng Shui 101, Clutter Clearing 101, Positive Mindset 101, Happiness 101, Life Purpose 101, How to say No 101 and more. Opening in September of 2013, at the Gentry Pacific Center on Nimitz Highway, Happiness U is where one can learn things about how to be happy in life. Visit www.YourHappinessU.com for more information.