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Day 42: Clean House and Feng Shui


Good evening fellow members on the path to a beautiful you! Along my journey I have hit a few bumps, minor setbacks, and self doubt, but I am happy to say that I sit here before you now filled with hope and spending each day with more of it than I have had in a long time. I am definitely starting to see a change in myself and my relationship with my husband. More of my days are spent care free and joking. Don't get me wrong, I still have bad days that I crave my old life and I want to rip, tear, and break everything and everyone in my path for absolutely no reason. But, those days are starting to become fewer and far between. My work life has been slightly hectic and I have been working on a new endeavor or two so I have been remiss in my posts but I am ready to clue you in for the newest adventure into...duh duh duh duuuuuhhhh! ADULTHOOD!! *Superhero cape flaps in the wind*.

Okay, okay I'm no superhero but I had to make sure you were still awake. The key to getting started in the right direction of adulthood is to figure out what causes you the most stress. Once you figure this out you must find a plan of attack. This last week I made a list of all of the things that can take me from, "Man! What a beautiful day!" straight to, "If you breathe through your nostrils ONE MORE TIME..."

The List Of Pure Evil:
1.)  Comments being made toward me that make me feel stupid, fat, or ugly.
2.)  Disrespect and Sass
3.)  Whining and Nagging
4.)  People taking advantage of my "Yes Man" Attitude or Kindness.
5.)  A Dirty/Depressing/Can't Find Anything House

Now, you'll notice that the title of this blog is not Other People and their Shenanigans. The reason why it's not (nor will it ever be) is that I can't change other people. I can remove myself from those people but I can't change the way I react to their words, for now anyways. I need to work on healing the parts of my soul that are unkempt. Once I have a firm grasp on who I am and what I stand for, then I can decide if I was just being sensitive or if those people really do irritate me.

My home is the most welcome place to anyone in the world. If you were in need, and I knew you fairly well, I would open my doors to you without a problem. This being said my home is more of a house. We are renters. Every house we have lived in just feels like a place to sleep, eat, and unwind. Everyday I get home from work I take one look at the place that we live in and it instantly places me in a bad mood for several reasons: 

A.)  It's a filthy, rotten, smelly, disgusting, mess.
2.)  There's always laundry and dishes to be done.
D.)  It feels and looks depressing.

I decided this last week that if I was going to clean up my soul I would also have to clean up my surroundings; starting with my house. The first thing I did was catch up on all laundry, dishes, and spot cleaning. Even though this is a never-ending task, it always feels good when you get done, almost like you've accomplished something major. Once that was done my chest started to feel lighter. Just so you know, this was all on a weekend. NONE OF THIS could have been achieved in one night. The second thing I did was take a good look around. All of my windows were closed. Our bodies are like plants, without sunlight we get withered. I opened the curtains and the blinds to every window in my house. Dust flew everywhere. I could see the particles descend in the beams of sunlight. Even though it's winter I still need the sunlight and when it comes I have to soak it up. Something still didn't feel right so I sat in my living room and thought about it.

In the 8 months that my husband and I have lived here we have never changed the furniture once nor have we hung up any mementos of our lives together. I guess when you're fully engrossed in your life you don't stop to think about the little things. So for the rest of the day I took time to rearrange furniture in our home, one living space at a time. Just so you know, even if you live in tight quarters, you can still rearrange furniture. You just have to do it one or two pieces at a time and measure BEFORE you move. It really sucks to get a piece in a corner you thought would work and it turns out the darn thing covers a door way. I even did a little research on Feng Shui (by the way I have said this wrong my whole life. I recommend you look it up on google to hear what it should sound like).

In case you didn't know Feng Shui is the act of rearranging structure in a room or home as to promote the best balance between positive and negative energy in hopes to bring about positive energy the most. At least that's how I interpreted the definition. Now, I'm not in-tune with my furniture. We didn't have any discussions. I didn't ask my dresser where the best spot for it was and it reassured me that the window would be the best spot for releasing it's positive energy. I simply started moving things. It was a bunch of trial and error. I would place everything where I thought I wanted it, leave the room, come back in and assess my own feelings. If I felt good about it, I kept it.

I can hear some of you out there now, what a load of crap! Let me reassure you. I wasn't sitting with my legs crossed in the center of the room with all my chakras aligned waiting for spiritual guidance on the right placement. It was just a feeling. Sometimes rearranging your furniture every 6 months or so makes you feel good. I don't believe there's any right or wrong placement (so long as the window isn't covered or a closet) but I do believe we need change to feel like what we are doing is having some sort of long lasting affect on our lives.

The Not So Good Parts:
1.)  Even though I have been going to the gym this was difficult at times.
2.)  It took a good deal of time for all of this.
3.)  I need a cleaning outfit.

Definitely don't dive into this adventure if you don't have the time to invest. Make sure you have an outfit you can get chemicals, dust and all kinds of weird things on. Some of your furniture will be heavy. Please be prepared to use techniques to move your furniture so you don't hurt your back. I recommend the "shimmy". This is where you lift and move one side of your furniture at a time as if you're walking it. This is the easiest method I've found.

The Fun Parts:
1.)  I felt like I had conquered a huge mountain.
2.)  My house feels more like a home.
3.)  With my home being clean, I felt like I had time to just relax without feeling guilty about it.

Overall this is a must do. Cleaning and changing your home will help you feel like you are making changes in the right direction toward a new you. I would also recommend going shopping for home decor if you don't have any or just want to change things up (i.e. paintings, curtains, flowers, vases, life motto signs). Be careful with that though, it can be kind of expensive. Well I'm off to enjoy my new home and take in the new arrangement. Having a sanctuary to come home to will help with those struggling with depression as your home will be a place you look forward to coming home to. Good luck along your journey, you can do this! Until next time, be you.

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