Clearing the Energy in your Home

An extremely important aspect to feng shui is clearing the space.  Energy can linger in a home or office, and some of it may not be wanted!

There are several ways to go about this (see books by Denise Lynn and Karen Kingston), but, as usual in feng shui, a little goes a long way.

1.  Clean.   Yep, put on the yellow gloves and give the house a good scrubbing.  Cleaning the home is akin to cleaning the spirit, and who doesn't need that?!  Hiring a housekeeper works too but have them get into the corners!

2.  Clear the clutter.  I feel like I say this in every feng shui post I write, but, truthfully, I cannot say it enough.  If you have items that you do not love or use in your home (you know -- that vase your aunt gave you for your 26th birthday; the coat you got on sale that you've never worn; the armoire that has been in the family way too long), then it needs a new home!  Keeping so-so objects in your environment tells the Universe that you want a so-so life.  When you get rid of the so-so, you make room for the amazing.

3.  Open the door and windows.  There's nothing like fresh air (especially delicious fall fresh air) to get the energy moving in a home.

Jack Wild/Getty images

4.  Ritualize it.  Turn on your favorite beautiful, upbeat, or inspiring music.  Dance like you mean it.  Say prayers out loud.  Ask the angels to come in and help clear the space.  Tell the house you love it.  Ask the old energy to move on or transmute or purify or get the heck out.  And invite the good stuff in!

painting by Marius Michel-George

5.  Smudge.  As you are "ritualizing it," I suggest some tools.  White sage is one of my favorites.  It gets the job done.  Simply light it and woft the smoke around (aka smudging), setting intentions as you go.  (You may want to carry a tray to catch the ash.)  Sage is and was used in Native American rituals and is considered quite sacred.

from Incense Warehouse

Be sure to "thank" the sage when you are done.  If the sage smell isn't your favorite, you can also use frankincense or camphor.  Even spritzers with essential oils of your choice will work (lemon is good), and if you are super sensitive to smell, sprinkling salt water around is another option.  However, some places need more powerful solutions than these last suggestions.

If you're moving into a new place, or you and your ex have just had a fight, or you've just been in a funk, clearing your space is a must!  It's the quickest way to improvement, and it works.  It helps to do it from time to time anyway, but especially in those transition or tricky times.

Happy clearing!

Homewood's Change of Scenery

Anyone who lives in Birmingham can agree with me here:  the weather has been STELLAR!  To celebrate yet another sunny, perfect–temperature day, I called up a friend to meet me for an early dinner at my favorite local Mexican place: Pinches Tacos. 

If you haven’t been to Pinches Tacos in Homewood, quite frankly, you’re out of the loop.   If you like easy, casual dining and consistent, fresh fare (not to mention great vegetarian choices), then you like Pinches. The atmosphere manages to walk that nearly-impossible line of being simultaneously kid-friendly yet cool.  There is even a mural inside the building by the “You are Beautiful” artists.  Oh, and did I mention the outdoor seating?  There’s a nifty little patio made for this amazing fall weather.  And it's super-easy on the wallet.  I like Pinches so much, I go just about once a week.  This is not at all in character, but I do it.  I highly recommend the ”regular” veggie burrito.  It never fails.  I’m addicted.  I get it every time.  Again, not in character.

Therefore, you can imagine how strange a feeling it was to be driving down Oxmoor Road yesterday and then almost miss the turn!  How many times have I taken that turn?  I’m serious.  I had to do a triple take!  My brain shot off neurons that shouted something along the lines of:  “Is this it?  Wait?  No.  There’s Pinches.  That’s it.  That’s the patio.  But what?  Where are the…?  WHAT?  Wait a minute…”

What my brain was looking for without realizing it was a dense row – a canopy, if you will – of large, gorgeous shade trees that lined 19th Street S at the corner of Oxmoor. 

You know the saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”  Well, these trees, across the street from Pinches, were G-O-N-E.  Yesterday was Tuesday.  I had just been there on Friday night!  I KNOW they were there.  Right?  Was I imagining this?  I mean, unless I’m crazy, those trees were big! 

What stands there now is a long green temporary fence.  Behind that fence is an impressively large construction site.  

Here’s a picture:

I discovered that seven large trees were taken from the site on Monday.   Seven!!!   To get an idea of this, imagine if your back yard had seven trees that had been growing there since, oh, 1960.  That’s over 50 years ago.  And then you woke up one morning, and they were gone.  The only difference here is that the trees pretty much lined the street.  One would think this made them city property.  But…I guess not.  Arlington Properties, who is building an apartment complex at the site, owns the land, and therefore owned the trees.  Therefore, it was their right to cut them down -- affecting all of Homewood with it. 

Supposedly, the trees were removed because the roots were quite large.  I understand this.  Roots on large trees can cause problems.  This is why it is so important for the “right tree” to be planted in the “right place” in a city environment.  Yet I still find this cause to be “curious.”  I intend to research the reason for these trees’ removals.  After all, when you remove a gorgeous tree that has been living for at least forty years, you are taking away forty years of beauty, shade, and oxygen, as well as homes for birds and other fair creatures.  Multiply this times seven, and it’s impact is hardly recoverable, at least not in an adult's lifetime.  In the least, the citizens of Birmingham need a thorough explanation of why these trees were killed, and what Arlington Properties is going to do to make it up to us.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEWFLASH: After writing this piece, I decided to glance on Google Maps to see what the canopy looked like before the bulldozers came in.  I hope you are as shocked as I am.  I'm wondering if I am way off with the "seven" count.  What do you think?

Pinches is the round-like protrusion on the white-ish building on the right.  The trees lining the street were the ones cut down on Monday.  THINK:  anywhere you see green on this photo would appear as red dirt (aka construction site) by a helicopter-cam today.  

Now check this out -- I panned out to see a bigger view of SoHo.  Wow.  Seems like this no-green is a trend in the business district.  Not good. 

That expanse of trees in the lower right hand corner is now GONE.