Are You Taking Up Your Rightful Space in the World?

Posted by on November 5, 2010

I was recently inspired by one of my coaching clients. We were discussing practical and logistical steps for her setting up a website. It was something she had been putting off for a while and I could detect her hesitancy. And then she said this, “I think I have an issue with taking up space.” Taking up space. And then it was a week later when I found myself dealing with this exact issue.

About a month ago I moved into a new home. Not literally new, but a 1904 brick Victorian. It had been occupied for eons by an old man, was completely renovated and even the subject of a Canadian reality show – Meet the Wilsons. It is now a beautiful, modern home with lovely exposed brick and a clawfoot tub. About a week into living there, I realized we were not alone, but shared the space with a ghost.

In the early 1900′s the home was a pastor’s home with its sister home being the church next door. Apparently our cohabitant had come to the pastor’s home for forgiveness, but didn’t get everything he needed. A week before Halloween I assisted him in moving onward and upward. I had gotten to know him and was oddly comforted by his presence. Moments after he left, I felt an emptiness in the house. It was a small sampling of what parents must feel when their child leaves for the weekend to go back to college. And like what most mothers do, I start busying myself to distract from the emptiness.

Within thirty minutes I see a mouse run across the kitchen floor. I scream. I can deal with ghosts, but NOT mice. Over the next few days, there were traces – my dog sniffing in odd places, another sighting, an uneasiness. I was to the point that I didn’t want to be home after dusk.

For many years, I have been compiling a list of the metaphysics of the home for a future book. As every part of our home is a representation of our emotional, mental, or physical Self. And my homes have always been my greatest teachers. And so I began to wonder what the meaning of all this was. And then I remembered what my client said, “I think I have an issue with taking up space.” And it hit me. I was not taking up my own space! This is just another way of saying, “I’m not using my power. I am underutilizing myself and allowing others to overpower me.” If you don’t take up your space, then someone or something else will – whether it be a ghost, mice, a competitor, your mother, or even a friend.

And if you can’t take up the space in your own home, then you sure as hell aren’t going to be able to do it out in the world.

When I realized that this was what was happening in my own home – that I energetically had not claimed the space as mine yet – I got to work. I cranked up Mumford & Sons, got out the mop, and amped up my energy. I was tired of being fearful of the mice. I was tired of something else taking over MY home. I felt a new sense of power that I had never felt before. I claimed it as my home and completely filled every corner and nook & cranny with my energy. This was MY house. I wondered where else in the world I haven’t been taking up my rightful space.

Have you taken up the space in your home? In the world?

I am happy to say that I haven’t seen a mouse since.

Claim your space.

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Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing).  For more information, visit www.mindbodyom.com.