How to Feng Shui: Living with a Pack Rat

Member

By Vikki Albers
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (36 Ratings)

I wrote this Feng Shui article in gratitude to my Friend 2besure who, by her own admission, lives with a Pack Rat. So in reality, it is to Mr. 2besure I am grateful! (I like to think that some day he’ll be grateful too!)

Can the ancient Chinese art and science of Feng Shui serve to loosen the white-knuckle grip your Pack Rat has on their stash? Yes, indeed.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

The intention for a change in your home space

Step 1

office.microsoft.com

For better or for worse; in sickness and in health; in clutter and in clear? We just don’t know someone until we live with them and all the objects they hold so dear (and near).
Step 2

office.microsoft.com

Let us begin with a second look at the title of this article: ‘Living with a Pack Rat’. The title is not ‘Living with the Pack Rat’. You are not alone, an isolated case. I am sorry to report your numbers are large – households all across the country harbor Pack Rats. Here are some Feng Shui suggestions to neutralize that clutter-gripping energy you find under your roof.
Step 3

office.microsoft.com

First let us get clear about our intention. If you share your dwelling with a clutter-clinger the intention is NOT to change them. We are not here to change each other (lift each other up, but not change). The intention is to have a home comfortable to live in – a home where we feel good and are happy to spend time with people we care about.
Step 4

office.microsoft.com

We are on the same page. Relax. To begin the process of releasing that clogged up feeling in your home, start with what you have control over: your belongings. I know. You aren’t the problem here – they are. But if you look around, surely there is something you can release. Some of those old magazines and catalogs are addressed to you. Some of what is in that catch-all corner or back room is more yours than theirs. When is the last time you went through the hall closet?
Step 5

office.microsoft.com

If it were possible to look around your home and see only clutter – everything else is invisible – and 10% of that cluttery stuff is yours... that’s what you want to work on! Straighten it out, put it away, throw it away, organize a garage sale, take it to a thrift store – move it. Gone. Whew! That feels better already, and you’re just reading!
Step 6

office.microsoft.com

Here is the key. You must keep up with it. Keep it up everyday. Do not do a great job pulling your little Rat Packy portion out of the back bedroom and establish a new pile in the entryway or garage. That will not bring the shift in energy you are looking for.
Step 7

office.microsoft.com

It is energy that will cause the change. The energy of the things being removed from the back bedroom? In part, but by far the strongest force of energy comes from your intention to cause a change, a shift. You have a different mindset: you KNOW you live in a clutter-free home. The shift that you make within your thinking/feeling Self and your home will change the energy of your surroundings. It may not look exactly like that now, but it will.
Step 8

office.microsoft.com

When you know you live in a clutter-free home and you feel it, eventually, everyone else comes to know and feel it too. The energy that you claim will become a part of the energy of your home and other people occupying that space will feel it and join in. It will happen.
Step 9

office.microsoft.com

Ready for the fun part? Thought you might be. There are no voids in The Universe. None. Zip. Nada. When something moves out, something else moves in to fill that space. So as you go about moving and shifting the old and forgotten, new things and experiences (more appropriate to who you are now) will come into your life in a variety of forms.
Step 10

office.microsoft.com

Of course, you may get a new ‘thing’ to replace the outdated ‘thing’ you just threw out. But also these changes may manifest as something good happening at work, maybe a new client or a raise. A happy and stress-free occasion with your family. Better grades at school. Frequent headaches are reduced to seldom. How the changes will manifest for you I do not know. I do know changes will manifest for you.
It will happen.
In gratitude and with an intention to serve.

Comments

opalpearl3 said

Flag This Comment

on 4/12/2009 Great Article. It is so true that cleaning out your own mess creates a positive energy vibe in your life. 5*

vallain said

on 1/20/2009 I'm the pack rat in our house, but I'm trying to let go of things. Not easy.

GreenGardenChic said

on 12/15/2008 This is great info for me. I have a teeny-tiny home that gets cluttered quickly. Thanks for the advice.

FengShuiFairy said

on 12/9/2008 Great article!! I have a hard time keeping my "boys", even the grown up one, from creating tons of clutter!! They are even Feng Shui literate and still make big messes!! LOL I am inspired to keep up much better.