The other day I was sitting at a restaurant bar and overheard a conversation of two guys to my right. One had just moved out of his house as part of the divorce process. Soon thereafter, two other guys sat down to my left, also fresh from divorce.

A designated workspace is often overlooked for writers, not to mention a feng shui-ed workspace. But alas, a high-powered office isn’t only for the exec types. You too can (and need to) have a workspace set up for success.    

A common clutter question I hear is whether it’s better to have clutter sitting out or stored behind closed doors. Both affect us in different ways. Just like we have a conscious mind and a subconscious mind, we have conscious clutter (visual) and subconscious clutter (hidden).

Is it possible that decluttering could lead to more than just a clearer, spacious home, but also towards enlighenment? 

Do you feel like your home is taking you over? Like you have no space, you can’t get ahead of things you need Marie Kondo on speed dial? If so, it’s time to reclaim your power and become the master of your domain. 

It’s that time of year. Christmas lights, family gatherings, mistletoe, Christmas parties, and…. Unwanted Gifts. We all get that uneasy feeling when we unwrap the fruitcake, the ceramic angel fairy, or fringed elbow-padded sweater, and have to pull off our best improv performance.

If you’ve been through the ringer with decluttering, then the words release and let go may be permanent fixtures on your frontal cortex. You know the verbiage: If you no longer love it or it doesn’t spark joy, then it’s time to say adios.

The planet of love, beauty, and money turns retrograde on October 5th through November 16th giving us a chance to review our relationship with all things we value. Just like an investor needs to reassess a portfolio and perhaps move things around in accordance with fluctuations, this is your time to do that as well.

Your home should be your refuge from the world, not an emotional minefield. It should be the one place you recharge our batteries, not run you down. Here are some suggestions on what to look for and how to minimize the potential energy drains in your home.

At the core of all our wounding is worthiness. I don’t feel worthy. I don’t feel good enough. If you've done any sort of therapy or self-help modalities, you’ve most likely come across some attempt to address your unworthiness. I am worthy. I am enough. I’m proposing bypassing this language altogether. 

Like yoga, feng shui improves functionality of a space, provides more support, promotes relaxation, creates a sanctuary, and allows for more stillness. Your home may come out looking much better as a result too. 

Do you find that there are just certain items you always seem to have too much of? If so, you’re not alone. We each have our Achilles’ heel of clutter. I call this your Clutter Archetype and it is says more about you than you might think.

2018 is a year of harvesting the fruits of your labor, investing in yourself for the long run, new innovation, excavating your shadows, and either strengthening or surrendering relationships. 

Tragedies and disasters have historically been a time when we open our hearts and come together. But is it possible that even tragedy is losing its benevolent side effects?  How to open our heart without tragedy, heartbreak, or suffering. This is our collective work. 

We’ve all been in a situation or life circumstance that’s simply not what we wanted. A bad job, a debilitating health crisis, a rocky relationship, an undesirable location. The list goes on. Whatever it is for you, it stands as a stark contrast to what you really want. 

I was recently trimming a dying rosemary bush and was reminded of a song by Brandi Carlile, called Bend Before it Breaks. The dead branches were hard and impossible to cut with my pruners. They didn’t bend. I could only break them. The living branches were supple and easy to bend. Some were in between – they had a choice of which direction to take.

Spirituality and conscious movements have become a billion dollar industry as more people see the fallacy in taking a prescription pill (or the weight loss pill of the 90s) to solve our problems. But are we still just grasping for the next magic pill?

In our fast-paced society, we are constantly going, going, going and doing, doing, doing. After a while, it can be confusing and uncomfortable when your typical efforts just leave you spinning your wheels. Suddenly, the usual distractions aren’t distracting enough and you are forced to slow down and look inward.

The predominant emotion in today’s culture is feeling overwhelmed. Most people complain about not having enough time in their day or space in their home. Our life is cluttered with time clocks, technology, and trying to maintain it all with our home reflecting this back to us. This is why we are undergoing a cultural clutter epidemic. But it’s not really about our stuff. It’s about what our stuff is covering up.

Being in a room, a prison, or a life-sucking 9-to-5 job comes with its perks. It’s secure and you get fed. Your keeper probably won’t cheap ambien online kill you. But it comes at the cost of abuse, or best-case scenario, your freedom to be who you really are or can be in this life.