Let me start by saying I am so grateful I have a stable house to live in. I spent a large part of my childhood feeling like my home could be taken away at any moment, and I have such deep feelings of love sent out to those who don’t have a home, who have lost their home or are struggling to have a stable home.
Home allows us to feel safe, protected and shielded in many ways.
Home is where we can gather up our energies, rest, create, love and share with people. Home is an immense concept.
I know many people with a great home that don’t feel at home.
I, presently, have realized I am very temporarily one of them, which is so deeply out of alignment with the core of my mission, and the pulse of my life, but it wasn’t by conscious choice.
This ends today! Before I head out to start pulling my home together in a big way- something I am so grateful to have the time, space and resources to do- I wanted to talk about exactly how my own life has been affected my a temporary feeling of having a place to live but not really a home yet.
Not only does it energize my mission to reaching and helping people to set up homes everywhere, it may just set off a few lightbulbs for some of you who are struggling to feel like yourself, always trying to catch up with the day, or trying to feel grounded in a world that is far more whirring and spinning- yet still at its core magical- than ever before. And, if you’ve had a hard time making life changes, your home may be a grounding powerhouse for you!
(mood board inspiration from New Decorating Ideas)
Moving suddenly did a number on me. I didn’t realize it until now, as I dive deeper into setting up a new home, and I still have administrative tasks this week to tend to to set the extreme circumstances of duress that forced me out of my home more right.
For those of you who know the story, I’m sorry to repeat…but for anyone in an unstable living situation (even a luxury one like I was in) it pays to keep copious notes and records. It was a big crisis at home when the owner of my house exclaimed that this rent controlled vintage duplex would be tented with lethal poison gas in an emergency. No date was given- it would just happen immediately. Before October. Before September. In a mad rush and with no sympathy and, also, no laws being adhered to. And I wasn’t surprised. She’d done close to this in the past. This time, though, was the closest to death she’d gone.
So, given that poison gas permeates every surface and off-gasses for many months afterward, my home that was a home was becoming a poisonous domain. Running out was the only solution- a tent could arrive at any moment and poison every singe thing I owned and loved – and the place that appeared like magic to move to was the best place ever.
The thing is- I had 15 days to move, I had a full plate of work that would normally be crazy anyway and then, yes, much more ahead.
The move happened, with a lot of effort and as much flow as I could create.
Turns out: the old place never got tented. Instead, my old home was re-rented at a higher rate apparently, in her words, “swarming with termites” she neglected for years. Since I drive past daily, that lack of a tent took a toll on my emotions that I didn’t fully acknowledge. It was clear that this was a very deliberate situation and not an emergency. I could have moved over the course of months and set up a new home that was a home from the go. I could have stayed. I could have…
I reminded myself daily… it was meant to happen. Then, I reminded myself I had to take action.
If you have unresolved feelings about the past, now is a time to resolve and heal them.
That’s the first part of this feeling of grounding and peace in life— clearing up the negative cycles that preceded this moment where things feel “off”. Whether they have to be cleared with forgiveness, with administration, with action or with prayer or spiritual intervention— don’t let the negatives pile up in life. This I can say for me applies to both my whole life AND my home.
So, that’s happening on many levels.
But, I still had more to do.
I have been so busy and so grateful and so creative lately… that my own home still hasn’t been set up. It’s all been deep cleaned and cleared energetically and organized and unpacked instantly… but there are so many facets that take time— the right furniture, the right office, the right curtains, rugs, art — that require clear minded & grounded decisions.
I have been bounding around so much I seemed unaffected by a decision to let it take as long as it takes….
Until I started feeling “off”.
The wait caught up with me.
I started feeling the way clients explain they feel. I started feeling the way I felt as a child. I started feeling unsettled, I started thinking backward instead of forward, I started to feel scattered even though I’m organized really well, tired of heading out to work in different places rather than having an office I love, feeling behind even though I am not, questioning myself, getting tired for no reason, not wanting to set up new things.
I needed a home. Six weeks was too long because the effects were starting to get wobbly.
And so, a week and a half ago, I started making this my priority.
I always say that life requires that we put ourselves first. And, our home requires that, too.
I put myself first in my days to be full of energy, but in a space without a dining table, without a place to put a computer, without proper lighting… I know it all seems so “so what?” … it took a toll that was very reminiscent of the scattered past where I’d burn out and keep waiting for life to happen.
Home is powerful.
It doesn’t require extravagance. It doesn’t require incredible amounts of money.
It requires LOVE.
Love the furniture you have. Love the energy around you. Love that you have a space where you can eat, sleep and create in beautiful ways- whether its a single room or a mansion.
This is where grounded power begins.
Home is a launch pad. I have seen studio apartments re-imagined with love (and not extra money) help rocket people from unemployment for years to dream jobs, from exhaustion to energy and vitality, and from trauma to healing.
Home is safety, grounding and security.
Home is where you can organize and align yourself in powerful ways.
For some people, home is multiple places. They bring “home” with them traveling for work, adventuring for life. They find a home feeling.
For many, home is something in the past that never quite made it into the future.
If that’s you…. I deeply encourage you to make the place where you live into a home.
Even it it’s for the first time ever.
If you’re looking for more of a feeling of home right now, start simple.
Clear some energy in your place. Deep clean, burn sage or incense if you’d like, open windows…easy stuff.
Find ways to love what you have right now- polishing, styling, using creativity. There are hundreds if not thousands of curated feng shui ideas on this blog alone to get you started, and a whole Internet full of creative inspiration.
Find ways to clear what isn’t love where you can. Donate what you don’t need or use. It can be a part of someone else’s home. Recycle. Upcycle. This is vital. Make space for the new!
And… if you are able, invest your energy and time and love in setting up a home that reflects and supports you at your best.
My very first adult “home” 10 years ago was a little cottage. I spent $400 total to set it up deliberately and poured so much love and energy into creating it with the feng shui I’d just learned guiding me. It catapulted me into wellness, into a new career, into abundance… and it was the best decision I made for my self-care.
Making that decision again in a new unit of time is epic.
As I head out to start a flurry of home creating, furniture finding and art making, I feel like suddenly the old feelings of instability are replaced with excitement. The ground is back under my feet. Even if it takes me months to finish all my designing, it’s fine because I know that home is happening in a huge way, and with more love, attention and empowerment than I’ve ever felt in my life.
While I’d always planned to do this- the lag time between plans and action has been instructive. All the emotions and bouts of scrambling feelings for a few weeks have shown me in a new unit of time just how much home matters to me and how deeply powerful it is.
This will echo out in the months and years ahead for me with much to share and so much to create. With you. Doing it with you. So, please join me if you haven’t already in turning the place where you live into the home that you love. Even the smallest switches- a new plant, an ironed curtain, art you have already finally hung up on the walls- can be life-changing in inspiring, space-making ways.
A friend sent me big wishes of love, peace, joy and grounded power yesterday. It was so meaningful, such a great confirmation of a path…
And I’m sending all these big wishes out to all of you!!!
xoxo
Dana
P.S.: If you want to really immerse yourself in the light of joy so much more, my favorite Feng Shui and cutting-edge energy-shifting tools that I use almost every day are HERE for you in the Joy Immersion: 30 Day Negativity Detox!
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And, if you want to dive in to your own personalized feng shui in a modern, practical way, Say hello to Feng Shui 101. Its the guide I made for you to create your own personalized feng shui at home, in the office, wherever you may be… in 8 weeks. It’s not filled with strict rules or what you “must” do. Its filled with information, questions, exercises and even videos and classes to help you confidently create amazing spaces with killer feng shui and live with more flow. Learn more about the 8-week feng shui adventure & grab your copy to get started right HERE… And, as always, please let me know what happens!
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