Kvetch in the City - A Feng Shui Guide - As the World Burns

Who needs all those streaming services when we’ve got a real-life drama series to watch every day “As the World Burns”, a new global series presented by man and planet earth. It’s ongoing. Until it’s not.

On more days than not, on every level, it feels like the world is in utter chaos and despair. If someone would have told me that it is actually possible to start to feel numb to mass shootings, I would have thought that person is nuts and yet after each shock wave and outrage from what seems like weekly if not daily mass shootings, I feel myself looking for ways to tune out and shut down because it’s too much to absorb that reality.

The only good news to me of late has been watching the astounding discoveries revealed by the new telescope reaching lightyears across time to our planetary beginnings. And as one scientist explained with awe, that all those swirling gases and energy, billions of light years away, are made up of the same swirling gases and energy as our planet and mankind are made of.

So, back here on planet Earth I decided the best way for me to deal with the anxiety of daily news consumption and human stupidity, was to move some energy of my own. I’m talking furniture energy. Well, sort of, let me explain.

Recently, I invited Holly Tashian to come speak at our Gordon JCC Thursday senior luncheon. She is a Feng Shui expert. I had met Holly almost twenty years ago when I started working at the J and remembered she was one of the few people in Nashville who was knowledgeable about Feng Shui, as it was something I too was interested in and had studied on my own. This past month when she came to speak to the group, I realized then and there I needed her to come to my home. You see, I’ve been feeling stuck, and no, not just about dating as you may have surmised if you’ve been reading this column on a regular basis. I’ve been feeling stuck in my thinking along with this transition that I am in surely in from moving from a certain time of life into another, age wise. And while my home, to me at least, has always been a source of comfort, I knew there is stuff going on energy wise that may be keeping me feeling in an internal rut.

So, in came Holly. She asked me to be clear about my intentions before she came over, because she said, as that old cliché goes, be careful what you wish for, you just may get it.

First line of order apparently, was to take down my make-shift vision board, looking at all the things I don’t have in my life, but want. How depressing is that she pointed out. Daily looking at pictures of things you want but don’t currently have. Instead, she asked me to approach things I may be desiring by imagining what it would feel like to have what I desire.

Next up was cutting back my jungle of plants in my living room. It seems my green thumb and a very sunny living room was creating super-sized monster plants taking over the room. That’s all well and good until you can’t walk into certain corners to get books or sit on the couch without getting whacked by palm leaves in your face.

We went through each room and by the time she left I was a bit overwhelmed, though every excited for the be careful what you ask for part to come true.

Being the type A personality that I apparently am, I was on a mission as we said our goodbyes and I shut the door behind her.

Fast forward to two weeks later, house plants surgically cut back to reasonable heights, rooms rearranged, 6 pieces of furniture at Goodwill or the junk yard, and I can clearly say, not only can I get around my house way easier, but every room also feels more alive with intention and energy. I noticed immediately feeling more relaxed. My little nest on this swirling planet in space feels a bit more hopeful. Who knew it was that easy.

I have to say, not turning on the news for a few days did a lot for my mental health.

And heck, maybe the problems of the world could be solved by each of us moving our personal energy around in a positive way…along with a few pieces of furniture.