Feng Shui Cures for the Struggling Freelance Writer
Feng Shui, which is the art of improving your environment through the placement of objects, provides numerous techniques which can be applied to the area you have set aside to do your writing, whether that area be an actual home office or a corner of the bedroom or living room with your desk and computer.
One of the main tenets of Feng Shui is that the Chi or energy which exists around us can be blocked by clutter. Feng Shui teaches us that blocked energy leads to frustration and the inability to create. So, the first step to inviting creativity back into your life is to clean and organize your writing space. Put away any items which are not being used regularly, and find a place for those that are where you can easily access them. Dust, wipe down your desk top, vacuum under your desk, and put unsightly cords out of sight as much as possible. Make your writing area shine! These tasks alone will go a long way towards restoring your creativity.
In addition, Feng Shui also teaches that houses, rooms and even desks can have a special plan called a bagua map applied to them. A bagua map is a rectangle composed of 9 equilateral squares which represent areas of your life. The top three squares from left to right are wealth & prosperity, fame & recognition, and relationships. The second three squares are representative of health & family, center, and creativity & children. The last three represent inner knowledge, career, and helpful people & travel. You can begin by drawing or visualizing a bagua map and then applying it to the top of your desk. Hopefully your desktop is in the shape of a square or rectangle; an L-shaped desk is considered unlucky in Feng Shui.
Once you have your bagua map either drawn or visualized, clear the top of your desk of any extraneous items such as papers, books, computer disk holders, and pencil & pen cans so that except for maybe your monitor your desk is clear. Then treating the surface of your desk as though it is a bagua map find the areas which apply to your writing career. Typically people choose the wealth & prosperity, fame & recognition, and creativity & children areas to augment for this purpose. Some examples of augmenting these areas to improve your writing space might be: putting an item or two which are purple or red in your wealth and prosperity area. You can also put a healthy plant there as well, so your wealth will “grow.” In your creativity & children area you could place a quartz crystal. Quartz crystals are thought to aid in concentration, and since a big part of being able to be creative is concentrating this will assist you. In your fame & recognition area you could put a color copy of your book cover, or even one you make up for this purpose. If you are not working on a book, and do some other form of writing you only need find or create an item which represents success to you to put in this area. This is a way of fine tuning your subconscious towards fame and recognition.
Other things you can do to use Feng Shui to improve your writing career are keep the area around your desk free and clear of items. You should be able to walk freely around your desk. If it is against a wall, then you should still be able to walk around the open sides. This allows the Chi or energy to flow around your writing space and as such will bolster your creativity. If you feel like stacking your work somewhere, do not do it on your desk, rather stack it behind you or to the left of your desk. Putting it in front of you, makes your work appear as an obstacle which is impossible to overcome. You could add a small table with a wire basket for this purpose, just make sure the area around it is clear. Also, make sure your back is not to a door, this will make you jumpy since you cannot see who is coming in. One final thing which will assist you is having a wall or a picture of a mountain behind you, this will help you to feel supported in your career choice.
The art and practice of Feng Shui can be used in many ways in which to improve your life, this is only one. I’m sure with a little thought, research and understanding of the meaning of life’s many symbols, you can find others.
