Personal stories of simple changes that are as unique and inspiring as the people who created them. I have a great appreciation for the everyday stories of friends and family and their journeys to create change.
A “CASE” FOR BOOKS
Many years ago when I lived in Albuquerque, I had a very Earthy and Water element friend who had such a love for books. Her Earth Element nature loved to “collect” things and one of the ways that showed up in her Water element was in the choice of what she was collecting. Water Element people like to surround themselves with deep wisdom and sometimes that can show up as clutter around books and papers.
Katie was constantly buying books, more books than she actually had room for. On any given weekend you could find her at the local bookstore pouring over the latest self-help books. Always buying at least one to bring home to add to the pile she had strewn across the floor of her bedroom. She loved nothing more than sitting in bed on Saturday mornings sipping her coffee and reading her books and magazines.
Once when I was visiting at her home, I mentioned that the books scattered all over the floor of her bedroom was not good Feng Shui.” “Oh I don’t believe in that,” Katie replied, “it’s a lot of woo woo stuff.” But I pointed out that even from a practical standpoint, all that clutter around her bed was not good, because among other things, there was a lot of stuck energy going on, and that could really drag her own energy down.
“I don’t care,” she said, “I love books, I love to look at them, I love to touch them, I love to have them around me. And on Saturday mornings I don’t want to run all over the house looking for my books! I just wanted to grab my cup of coffee, reach down and pick up a book or magazine. Though I could see her point, this situations was far from ideal. Still, Katie wasn’t interested in any of my Feng Shui advise, so I just dropped it. And so, the cycle of buying more books and adding them to her ever growing pile continued.
However, one night Katie got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and she left the lights off because she didn’t want to wake her husband. But on the way back to bed she slipped and fell on that pile of books, and hit her hip on the corner of the footboard. Fortunately, Katie was not seriously hurt, but there was a nasty puncture wound on her hip and she was quite sore and bruised for a couple of weeks.
As she was recounted the incident over our weekly morning coffee, she admitted that maybe I had been right about all those books on the floor. As I listened, I again gently reminded her that perhaps that was a very practical reason for not having all her books scattered on the floor. As we continued our conversation, she became a tiny bit more open to the benefits of Feng Shui, and asked if I had any recommendations.
Of course, my first suggestion was to pick those books up off the floor and put them somewhere where they could easily be accessed, and she could actually see what was there. I suspected that Katie might not even know which books she had lying on the floor, all piled on top of each other, and I wondered if she had even read them all, or remember which ones she had bought.
We agreed to meet at Katie’s house the following weekend and tackle the books. When I arrived, Katie informed me that she was open to my suggestions but that she was not going to spend any money on this “woo, woo” stuff, and she wanted her books to stay in the bedroom. Okay, maybe a bit of a challenge I thought, but I was up for it. As I stared down at the pile of books next to her bed, I asked if she had ever considered a bookcase, though admittedly, I’m not a big fan of putting a bookcase in a bedroom.
I believe that books are better suited to other rooms in the house. A book by its very nature is the voice of someone talking. So if you have a lot of books in your bedroom, you “metaphorically” have a lot of voices talking all the time while you are trying to sleep. It may seem a little “woo woo,” but from a Feng Shui standpoint, a bookcase in the bedroom may not the best idea. Fortunately, Katie agreed but still insisted on keeping her books close by.
As I surveyed the room, I noticed a mostly empty corner with a chair that was lightly covered in dust. “Katie, what do you use this chair for,” I ask. “Nothing really,” she replied. I just have it there because I need something to fill the space.” So I suggested that maybe we could create a little reading nook in that unused corner. Though Katie admitted that she preferred to read in bed, she was curious enough to give it a try. However, she firmly reminded me that she was not going to spend any money on it. “Not a problem,” I replied. “Most people already have everything they need to create change, it’s just a matter of finding it.”
So off we went on a scavenger hunt! We found an unused rectangular wicker basket in the closest that was the perfect size to hold magazines and books. A tiny lamp that was shoved in the back of a crowded bookshelf in the living room was repurposed as a reading lamp. An old pillow on the couch found a new home on the chair accompanied by a previously retired afghan blanket in the basement. Sensing we still needed one more thing, I turned to Katie and ask if she was open to spending a little bit of money. “How much,” she said with slight irritation in her voice. “Not much,” I said, “maybe twenty dollars or so, for a floating shelf above the chair.” Preceded by some grumbling from Katie, off to the local hardware store we went.
After placing most of the books and magazines in the basket and on the shelf, we did a little styling and voila! As we stepped back to admire our work, Katie exclaimed “Wow! That looks great!” Admittedly, it did. “Now, instead of always reading in bed, you can also use this cozy little reading space,” I said. “And you can also easily access all of your books”.
But that is where the story got interesting, because anytime we make a change and shift our energy the energy shifts around us. Even though Katie didn’t really believe in Feng Shui or it’s benefits, she did start to feel better. She got up a little earlier and felt a bit more energetic in the mornings. Then she did something unexpected, she packed up all the books that she was no longer interested in or had the desire to read anymore and donated them to the town library. While she was there, she noticed a sign above the drop-off bin that had all sorts of interesting book clubs and free classes. With a little nudging form her husband, she signed up for a conversational Spanish class. Not only did she start learning a new language, but she also met some new friends.
And although this may not seem like a significant part of her story, it was. Over time, Katie had started drifting into her emotional Water Element side, instead of her principal personality of Earth Element. While her Watery side was fine spending time alone reading and deepening her knowledge, Katie’s, Earth Element was lacking a sense of community, which is such and important part of her over all personality. Her Earth Element was actually craving more meaningful connections with people.
Katie is still not a believer of Feng Shui, and that’s okay, she does’t have to be. Feng Shui doesn’t need our permission to work it’s magic. And the truth is, we don’t know what that magic is going to look like anyway, because Feng Shui isn’t transactional. But what we do know is, as in Katie’s story, those changes are most likely to show up as exactly what is needed in that moment of time!
Elemental Energies 