I never thought I’d be grateful for a head cold.
This week I was sick enough to have to stay at home, sick enough to not do any creative work, and even sick enough to not be able to meditate for four days straight.
Maybe Buddhist monks never get colds, or maybe they just suck it up and breathe through their mouths while meditating with blocked nasal passages and heads that feel like saturated cotton balls. Maybe monks are OK with wiping their noses with those wide robe sleeves, or maybe they’re OK with dripping freely.
Yet more proof that I’m not cut out for monk (or nun) life.
When Your Inner Pathways Are Blocked, Clear Your Outer Pathways
But I didn’t have a fever and I wasn’t bed-ridden. What I initially thought were chills were only hot flashes.
The only thing I could do to offset the congested feeling in my head was to clear the space in my outer world. The obvious place to start was my office, which had grown weedy and wild again since my last work space clearing exercise (see How to Use Feng Shui to Recharge Your Work Space). My head wasn’t clear enough to think of taking a before picture, but the chaos was almost as bad as the pictures illustrated in that earlier post.
With big plans for 2017, including starting a brand new LLC that will incorporate all of my mindfulness-inspired endeavors, I needed to create room for growth, literally and energetically. I threw out months’ worth of old papers, unopened junk mail, and expired coupons, removed books from the shelves that didn’t support my business development, and reorganized my files. By doing so, I made room for new opportunities to flow into my life and dissolved the tense feeling that arose when I thought about having to file something.
After the flurry of activity these past several months (book events, photography events, speaking engagements, workshop development), I had not only allowed piles of papers to accumulate, I had also let my bookkeeping slide. Energized by the office purge, I dove into updating my financial records.
Paying close attention to other areas that triggered a stress response, my next target was my messy purse and wallet. Having written about this already in Making Room For Wealth — Easy Feng Shui Purse and Wallet Fixes, I was once again astounded at the optimism and lightness of spirit this ten-minute task engenders.
All Clear!
The morning after I completed my office, purse, and wallet purge, I woke up with a clear head to go along with my clear shelves. Inner clarity and spaciousness, outer clarity and spaciousness – back in alignment. Ahhhh…..
Hope you are finding your own ways to stay in alignment this holiday season and set yourself up to bloom in 2017!
And since it IS officially December, if you’re looking for gifts to support your own or loved ones’ inner peace, check out my website shop for artwork and notecard ideas! Print orders take a couple of weeks to turn around, so order soon if you need something by Christmas. If a book is a better gift option for you, Blooming into Mindfulness: How the Universe Used a Garden, Cancer, and Carpools to Teach Me That Calm Is the New Happy is the perfect choice! Contact me directly if you’d like to order signed copies.
Wishing you joy and peace!
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