Halloween and Bonfire Night will soon be behind us, then it’s full-on Christmas preparations and a busy time for us all. The holiday season, and especially the build-up is my favorite time of year. It can be a magical time, especially if you have young children in the family.
Christmas can also be an incredibly stressful time too. The experience will be different for everyone depending on their individual circumstances. Here are some common factors that can contribute to a stressful Christmas.
- Financial Pressure – For those on a tight budget, the extra expense of gifts, decorations, socializing, and hosting family or friends can cause great anxiety.
- Time Pressure – Christmas is often filled with dates with friends, events, and parties, plus lots of commitments to fulfill. This can leave people feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
- Loneliness – Missing loved ones and friends can be intensified during the Christmas period, causing a lot of upset and anxiety during the build-up.
- Family Conflict – Families who are going through conflict may dread Christmas because they know they may have to meet up and spend time together. It can be very challenging dealing with difficult relatives.
- Hosting Relatives – As well as all the Christmas preparations, having relatives coming to stay with you or you traveling to stay with them can make your stress levels overflow. Planning travel and dealing with busy roads or airports can cause a lot of pressure.
- High Expectations – Pressure to create the perfect holiday experience for everyone can be overwhelming.
Once again, as a reminder, I will write about my favorite subject which is so important, ‘decluttering’. The best feng shui advice I can give is to start organizing early and declutter. We go on holiday to Dubai on Halloween, so I have started my Christmas planning already, otherwise with work and other commitments I know I will be overwhelmed if I do not prepare. All my Christmas decorations are in order ready to be put up when I arrive home. I don’t follow the 12 days before Christmas tradition, I put my decorations up early so I can cross them off my ‘to-do’ list. Before I do any of the above, I begin my decluttering.
Decluttering is the best feng shui advice, so decluttering before Christmas is very important. Too much clutter can cause the energy to be stuck and stagnant and this is not ideal. By decluttering and moving your ‘stuff’ you are freeing up the stuck energy and helping to release the energy flow which is important when you want everything to flow smoothly over the Christmas period.
Before I begin to put up my decorations, I do a full house declutter. This will get me ahead of the game for my New Year preparations, allowing space for the new energies to enter my home.
I begin by sorting out my wardrobes, kitchen cupboards, and all the favorite places where I like to ‘hide’ things.
Some people have their clutter on show, while others have it hidden away in drawers and cupboards. The favorite places are in the attic or basement; out of sight, out of mind, that is until you need to find something, then chaos happens.
Excess clutter can clutter your mind. You cannot think straight; it takes twice as long to find something, and you can feel like your home is closing in on you. Does that sound familiar…? Clutter affects us all and you won’t realise how much it has affected you until it is gone! Clutter attracts clutter; if you have a messy home, it becomes worse throughout the days and weeks. The clutter you have did not appear by magic, you have been adding to it over time.
The energy that enters the main door of your home should move around freely. This will not happen if the energy runs into objects or heaps of clutter. Clutter stops the natural flow causing blockages and a reluctance to progress in life and business. We can feel confused, tired, depressed, disorganized, and cannot focus on any single task.
I have a few decluttering tips that will help you focus.
DECLUTTERING TIPS
Clearing clutter produces magic. Understand this fundamental principle of feng shui and you will be grabbing those bin bags. Do not start decluttering and go at it like a bull in a China shop. You will soon become bored with the mess around you and end up throwing it back into the cupboard and shutting the door, with no progress made.
1. Work out a plan…
2. Choose the first room, and set a timer for 15-20 minutes; just long enough for you to make a difference.
3. Label 3 or 4 big bin bags.
- Bag 1 – Recycling Centre or Tip
Fill this bag with rubbish that is no good to anyone. Anything you want to throw out, e.g., broken, or chipped crockery. - Bag 2 – Charity Shop
Anything that is still in good condition that you no longer have a home for. - Bag 3 – Pay It Forward to a Friend
We all have possessions that are too good to just throw away, so maybe you know the perfect person or people who you could gift these things to. - Bag 4 – Car Boot Sale
You can have a Car Boot Sale bag if you wish and earn yourself extra cash. You could even sell items on eBay. If you decide to use this option you must make a promise to yourself to do this, otherwise you are not solving your clutter problem.
4. Sticking to the timer, sort out as many drawers and cupboards as you can within that time scale. Once the timer has gone off, you can dispose of the bags to their rightful places.
5. By repeating this process; you will be amazed at how quickly you see progress.
I feel like I have accomplished a great achievement when I have finished decluttering. I am then eager to start organizing for Christmas. This spurs me to go through my home and temporarily put away some of my ornaments, to make way for the Christmas items I want to display. It prevents my house from looking too cluttered again.
Keep taking small steps. I promise you; you will feel amazing when you can see the progress you have made.
Pay Special Attention to the following:
- The center sector of your home and your entrance are very important areas in feng shui. Pay special attention to any clutter in these areas and decorate the centre sector beautifully. Maybe create a centrepiece that symbolizes joy and abundance. Ensure your entrance is clear and clean and decorate it so it is attractive and pleasing to the eye. When you are outside your home, your eye should be drawn to your front entrance. There is a saying, ‘Energy flows where the eye goes.’
- Avoid displaying any sharp-edged objects or anything with pointed edges. These are considered negative and when placed carelessly will cut through your energy, causing aches and pains. Choose rounded-edged items instead. If you have a knife block out on display on your kitchen worktop, put this away safely in a cupboard.
- Trust your intuition when preparing for Christmas. If something doesn’t feel harmonious then follow your instinct and adjust until the energy in the space feels positive and balanced.
Once Christmas is over, I then start my preparations for the lunar New Year which is on January 1st, and then I plan and prepare for the Chinese New Year which falls on February 10th in 2024 – the ‘Year of the Wood Dragon’. There is so much to prepare for, so organization for me is very important.
