Last year, I discovered The Secret. Without being too gushy, I loved the movie, the book and audio book. While searching for other like minded people, I re-discovered feng shui.
Please know that I live in the middle of Kansas and while we like to think we're progressive folk, sometimes we aren't. I hunted high and low for a feng shui expert to come to my office and feng shui it. I asked fellow agents, clients, friends, strangers all for help in locating a feng shui person. About half of the people I asked had no idea what I was talking about! Some wondered if I'd finally cracked or if I was joining a cult. I decided to leave it up to the universe.
About a month later, I discovered AR and met the most amazing, generous and wise feng shui expert in Carole who blogs feng shui tips. Reading her posts gave me inspiration to attempt to tame the monster paper piles in my office. She gave me great advice about de-cluttering and why a clutter free environment is so important. I really didn't take the advice to heart because I am a visual person. I really believed that I NEEDED to see all that stuff or else I wouldn't be able to function. So, I implemented some of her tips, but didn't de-clutter. I had some minor success with feng shui, but nothing earth shattering.
In May, I found a local feng shui lady who agreed to come over and take a look at my office and offer suggestions. She had recently started her feng shui practice and explained that she'd visit, take notes and then come back on another day to give me the proposal.
Her #1 suggestion was to de-clutter, hmmm, just like Carole!! She also drew a nice floor plan to move our desks into power positions and for better energy flow. I decided to re-arrange the furniture and tackle the clutter later. I honestly thought that just moving the furniture would be enough. Well, I was wrong!
Every time a client would stop by, I'd do the mad dash of stuffing all the paper piles into the filing cabinet, empty boxes or wherever I could so that my office was presentable. Then, after they'd leave, I'd spend a huge amount of time re-stacking the stacks so I could find stuff again. I didn't see the error of my ways, but my assistant did (she found my shoving and hiding to be quite funny - she's a neat freak and just couldn't understand why I wasn't as tidy as she is.)
I guess I got tired of the dance - stuff it, haul it out, restack it, hunt thru it, move it around, shove it over etc etc. I finally got the notion to get rid of it -all of it! It took about a week, and I reduced my clutter by over 80%!
At first, I felt naked and exposed. Co-workers would stop by my office to admire how big it was and how clean it was. It felt so awkward and so not like me.
But then, the most amazing thing happened. My business DOUBLED in just one months time! I find myself having more time to work and I'm so much more relaxed now that I can find things. I feel like a huge weight has lifted and I'm much more settled and open for new things to come in.
Carole had so many wonderful ideas to try in my home that I decided to de-clutter there first and then try the tips. I've spent about 2 weeks and oh, what a difference! It is a truly liberating experience to apply the rule of "if you don't love it, need it or use it, get rid of it." I got rid of stuff that I've been holding onto for YEARS because somebody gave it to me and I didn't want to hurt their feelings. Or, projects I started and never got around to finishing.
If you suffer from too much stuff, take it from me - get rid of it! You'll be so glad you did! Need inspiration? Read Carole's blog - I'm so grateful that I did!!
;)
;)
;)
Melissa, I just saw this, THANK YOU SO MUCH! What a wonderful blog to write and I'm so Happy to hear about your business! I had a difficult time on AR in the beginning, I think people thought "What is she talking about?? And why is she on our site?" And I kept thinking if I made it easy and broke it down and got ONE person to try it, it would be worth it! Maybe more people will try Feng Shui from your Inspiration! Again, thank you for the lovely acknowledgement!