DTLA LIFE MAG #10 | OCTOBER 2014 | Page 54

Consult any reputable Feng Shui Master and one of the very first prescriptions they will give you is a lesson on clearing the clutter in your life. It is Feng a Shui 101! Do you know why? One of our greatest obstacles to manifesting our goals and dreams in life is reflected to us on a daily basis, every time we look at the top of our desk, the nightstand drawer, the kitchen junk drawer and stare at the pile of magazines we keep telling ourselves we are going to read one day and yet never do. Everything in our orbit is energy; it all has meaning attached to it and it is in a perpetual holding pat- tern swirling around you, until you determine it’s time to be released. Then the law of physics kicks in: the Universe abhors a vacuum! Empty space means it’s time for something new to fill it! But until you decide to let go, for example, of the boxed and cleaned wedding gown/tuxedo in the back closet shelf from your failed marriage, then how can that new relationship find you? You know the dress I mean, the one that meant so much to you because he meant so much to you, but that was then... Fast-forward to now and you wonder why you haven’t dated anyone in ten years! Time to give the dress/tux away and open up a space in your closet for a new memory to find you. Clearing clutter sounds relatively easy, but in actuality if it were easy, there would not be a booming storage rental industry where we can rent little boxes for our stuff- all the stuff we can’t seem to part with. If you have ever seen George Carlin’s skit on stuff, you know what I am refer- ring to. Carlin says that when we get rid of our stuff, as if by magic new stuff appears! And in some cases, what he didn’t mention in his comedy sketch is this- sometimes that new stuff might happen to be something you have been wanting for a long long time, and by clearing out the old, a path was finally made for something shiny and new! Start your fall clutter clearing in small rewardable doses. Pick a time this autumn season as the leaves are falling and being raked away, to tackle one area of your home or office. The rule here is if you select an item you have these choices to make- keep it or put it in either the donate pile or recyclables depending on its condition. You may be tempted to keep your old girlfriend or boyfriend’s sleep shirt and convert it into a cleaning or art rag! Remember, the goal here is to move old stagnant energy out, not offer it a new form in which to hang out in your life a little longer. As you tackle the areas in your home or office where clut- ter has accumulated, set your own personal intention for what it is you do wish to experience, and write down those goals in blue ink on unlined paper so they really sync into your brain! And remember to reward yourself for a job well done with a tall glass of crisp fall apple cider or a massage vs. a pur- chase of more stuff that will just need to be cleared again anyway! And if you need some personal motivation and inspiration, remember Gandhi- He had simplified his life to the point of only owning three things- his cloth cover, his eyeglasses and his book! Happy fall clearing! Lori Tierney is an author and Feng Shui consultant living in Los Angeles. Lori Tierney @cougaryoga www.loritierney.net