it's all about the chi

If you've been visiting this blog long enough you know that I struggle with clutter. This is not a life-long affliction--in fact, in many ways I am the organizational queen: got a closet that begs for transformation? I'm your girl. No more space to store the lastest gadget? Let me at it and I'll have you fixed up in no time. When I lived in a one bedroom cabin with a loft in the eave of the place, I rocked every square inch of that establishment.

Where I live now the challenges are manifold. Closet space is pitiful. Our bedroom closet can't contain our collective clothing (and Ken is not a clotheshorse), so we spill over. My dresses share space in the hall closet with stacked drawers of craft supplies and vacuum cleaners. And oh, did I mention that there are ball gowns from an era of Scottish country dancing there as well? (They need to move on--not only am I not dancing these days, but they're also size 8's). The front hall closet hosts Ken's suit jackets and sports coats, his shoes, my winter coats, the slide projector, tablecothes, wrapping paper and gift bags for ordinary time (as opposed to Christmas). The guest room closet is filled with fabric and some of my skirts, as well as clothes that I have outgrown in the last year (another subject for another day). The closet in my office is, well, crammed with more things than one would think possible and still look organized. Really! Somewhere I have a picture to prove it!

Awhile back I posted that I was on the way to revamping the closet and the rest of the office to ban the clutter that has taken over this space. I made an auspicious start, emptying the closet of its contents so that I could redo the shelves and install some drawers that presently occupy space elsewhere. I was psyched. And then I got stalled.

While looking for an image for another post the other day I happened upon a web site featuring an article about feng shui. I've known about feng shui for several years, read up on it several years ago and sought to bring some of the principles of it into my abode to help bring balance to a sometimes chaotic life. But then I moved, and life became really, well, crappy, and survival crowded out feng shui principles. (As I look back at this I am hearing a letter being drafted: "My dear Wormwood...").

I welcome the rediscovery of feng shui and for the first time in a long time, feel the twinge of long-absent hope. Not spiritual hope, space hope! The sense of feeling overwhelmed by so much to do, of tending to details, of tackling mundane tasks that are, nonetheless, essential to a good credit rating could all be vanquished with a little office feng shui. Is it any wonder that I feel like my energy has been sapped when there are piles on my desk taller than I am when seated? How can I help but feel discouraged when there isn't a square inch of surface left to put down something that really does need attention like, now?

My mother gave me some money for my birthday, and I told Ken that I was going to use it to buy shelving accessories for the closet. He gave me a blank look. "Why don't you spend it on yourself--you deserve it?" he asked. That was sweet, but does he not get it? Being able to get my space organized makes this girl exceedingly happy! It's all about the chi. Stay tuned for updates. I'm thinking that this might just be my Memorial Day weekend project...