Women’s Independent Press

   The art of Feng Shui often brings furniture arranging and artwork to mind for many people and a small portion of that is true. But Feng Shui is also about sustainability, a term you will be hearing more about in the months and years to come.

Sustainability is the “characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely,” as defined by one source. It’s basically making the best — and longest — use of things we create and own. So when I refer to decluttering and moving things on to other people and recycling, it is all part of sustainability

Here are some examples of how they work together:

No matter what school of Feng Shui you follow, one of the most important steps is to start by decluttering, when you declutter, you gather up items to discard, recycle, donate to Goodwill or pass onto friends and family members. As you go through this process, it is important to keep only what you are using at the moment.

In keeping with the concept of sustainability, you will be moving things from your environment to give to others so they can find a use for them or recycling the items to give them new life. Decluttering has to happen or you can’t even get to the root of the goals of Feng Shui.

Keep in mind that as older adults we recognize that our children aren’t going to use all the items that we’ve stored in the attic. Members of the Now generation purchase their own goods without relying so much on parents to provide these items. The accumulation of such materials can create a drain on your energy, something none of us need, especially since these items aren’t being used for long periods of time.

I encourage you to take a new look at your home when you do your Holiday Cleaning. Start by de-cluttering the house before you start cleaning. Follow these three simple Feng Shui recommendations:

1. Start decluttering by removing extra items from your home to allow you to redecorate or clean the space the way you want to. This symbolically means that you are allowing more opportunities to come into your life. Don’t forget to recycle or donate items to your favorite charity.

2. Next, have your decorations support your ability to achieve your life goals. This is simply done by looking at the Bagua Map and selecting which area in your life require the most energy. For example, I will be placing my 3-way lamps in the Relationship area of my house to support and maintain personal and business relationships.

3. Finally, renew the energy of your house for the Holidays by adding special touches like your favorite music, beautiful flowers or perhaps a wonderful, light lemony smell.

Surrounding yourself with things and people you truly love and following some basic Feng Shui recommendations will create a sustainable and balanced environment for you and your family for the New Year!

Please go to www.fengshuiabc1.com for a class on Holiday Feng Shui to Anchor your Intentions.  Yvonnephillips1@aol.com  412-215-8247