It’s mid-January and I’m sitting in my kitchen with the patio door open. A few days ago I was hobbling along the ice hoping not to fall and grumbling at myself for wearing heels to work. Today I’m running errands in my flip flops. In Colorado, we’re lucky our weather balances itself. Just when we think we can’t take another freezing day along comes sunshine and 60! We don’t want one thing all the time like one season, one temperature or one type of weather. We want balance – a little cold, a little warm, a little gray, a little sun.

My flip flops

Feng Shui teaches balance and provides practical solutions for achieving it – Yin and Yang. Chances are you know the symbol. Some things are Yin and some Yang. The moon is Yin, the sun is Yang. Night is Yin, day is Yang. Textured is Yin, smooth is Yang. Yin is dark, small, muted. Yang is light, large and bold. Yin and Yang are opposites, but so integrally aligned they don’t exist without the other.  Neither is greater or less than the other.  Both are equally important and equally support each other.  Each holds the nature of the other to create balance and harmony. 

By balancing the energy in the rooms of your home or office you can usually feel the difference in the space. When you look at your rooms, see if you can identify the Yin and the Yang. Sometimes you can easily see you have too much of one kind of energy and the room feels unbalanced.  Sometimes the fix is as easy as adding or removing some of the other kind of energy. For example, a large, high-ceiling room with large furniture has a lot of Yang energy; it needs some Yin – maybe a soft throw hung over a chair with some pillows on the couch and some candlesticks on the coffee table.  A cluttered desk or tabletop usually has too much Yin energy – little things like papers, pencils and bowls cover the space and clamor for attention. Putting things in their place and clearing a space can create a much needed Yang balance.  Simply cleaning your desk at the end of the day is balancing all the Yin of paperwork and files and coffee cups with the Yang of an empty work space ready for the next day. These are the kinds of quick fixes you can do in your home or office daily. 

The day has darkened into evening. It’s time to close the door because it’s getting cold again. I’ll be turning my flip flops in and putting on my boots to go out soon. This is the natural flow; Yang moving to Yin as day moves into night. Flip flops to boots. The quiet of writing will transition to the noise of meeting friends. I have found balance in my day and for that I am grateful. Hoping, when you look, you find some too.

I know that this month the parking lot will be full at the fitness club.  All the people who resolved to work-out to lose weight and be healthy will be there and that’s a good thing.  I applaud them and anyone who begins a new regime because there is powerful energy in beginnings.  We save January to start that project because there is just something about this month that inspires the grand gesture.  So here’s my suggestion for a grand gesture to begin and you don’t even have to go out into the cold to get started:  put your house on work-out schedule to lose weight:  clean out your closets, your storage shed, and your garage.

A few months back I invited you to start small – clean out a desk drawer.  If you did that, I hope you found that button you had been missing, a spare $20 and maybe even your grandmother’s recipe for strudel.  As our new year dawns I’m recommending a larger project that will change the energy of your space from the inside out.  Cleaning your closets and other storage spaces can change the energy of your entire home.  How can that be?  Feng Shui is very democratic – there are no spaces more important than others; all are of equal value; all deserve equal attention.    Clutter on the kitchen table clogs energy as much as clutter in your linen closet.  And, just like a weight loss or strength and energy building plan for your body this project for your house will take time and commitment.

Make a plan:  pick a closet or storage area to clean and put a date in your calendar.  Get the tools you need and use them, for example, three boxes marked: 

1)      Keep

2)      Throw away, give away and/or sell

3)      Can’t decide

Several organizations pick up gently used items at least once a month here in our neighborhood; the next time they call and ask if you have any items say, YES!   Your local animal shelter would love to receive old towels and blankets for their kennels.  My local library welcomes boxes of books for their annual book sale.  If you’ve never tried Craig’s List to sell items of value, this is the time to try. Uploading photos really helps to sell items and it’s easy to get started by just going to www.craigslist.com.  (We sold a ping pong table in a day.  I took photos at 10 a.m., we looked at the price of used tables and priced ours accordingly; we posted our table, got a call 20 minute later and sold it that afternoon.)   

Take before and after photos of your closets and post them on your fridge to stay inspired.  Work-out with a friend and help each other clean – your trash could be there treasure, or, and this is more likely, your treasure may really be trash and you just need a friend to tell you.   Think of this project as a  “Biggest Loser Contest” for your house, with you as the winner.   

Your house will feel lighter; energy will flow more freely, and new things will come into your life since you’ve literally made room for them.  And that’s a great way to start your new year!