Book Review: Karen Kingston’s Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui

Life has been pretty interesting lately. My love and I have gone on a pretty significant life changing journey over the past year and things have been pretty satisfying. A large part of this journey has been dealing with things that were holding us back individually – fears, angers, hurts, all that. You know what I mean, the things that clutter up our lives and keep us from finding a path to the proverbial door #1.

One of the areas of our lives we haven’t quite tackled in full yet is our home. Over the past decade, we have lived in small apartments, never really having enough space, and just keeping things boxed up. To be honest, I think the task of going through our lives has been daunting.

That was one of the reasons I was so excited to receive Karen Kingston’s Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui book from bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for a honest review. This little book has been enlightening and motivating. Though it seems to be written for people who live in houses and not apartments, with a cup of tea or latte or whatever, anyone who reads this book will engage in useful contemplation.

The book was inspiring enough to make me go out and buy some baskets for my soap and lotion making tools and essential oils, rather than just throw them on the kitchen table in various Tupperware’s; which then led to a full kitchen cleaning – rethinking where things on the counters should be placed for most usefulness; which then led to the purchase of a Keurig so I didn’t have a nasty coffee maker sitting on one of the counters always making a mess to clean up.

Was any of this feng shui? I don’t really know, but at least I was inspired to throw away the old shit and bring in some new functionally sound replacements. In all honesty, I was stunned at the amount of spices I had and what I was keeping for no apparent reason. I was stunned about the amount of nasty Tupperware I was holding on to because maybe there was some other use for it – soap molds and whatnot. More than that, I was amazed by the amount of garbage bags I was filling. Just in the kitchen. No wonder I didn’t feel like I had any space!

Here’s the thing though part of the journey my love and I made has resulted in an increase in income. This helps us to feel like we don’t have to hold on to EVERYTHING because it might have a second use.

Previously, I looked at everything in my home and wondered if I might need it for some other use in the future because I feel like maybe I won’t be able to afford something better when the need arises. While its nice to think you can always just clear out the clutter, its hard to sometimes feel like you have the financial freedom to do so.

…which leads me to….

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui has helped me to understand that by keeping the things that are cluttering up the space I’m not allowing for a full embrace of new and improved. We must be able to clear it all out – mind, body, spirit, physically – to be in the best state of being.

I’m not sure this book will help my home look more like it came out of a feng shui showroom, but it has made me think about the benefits of letting go. I don’t need to hold on to old clothes I never wear; I can go through the box of knick-knacks that don’t actually mean anything to me anymore (or they wouldn’t still be in a box); I can donate the 200 books taking up space in my closet without feeling horrible about letting them go; and I can get rid of the many sets of shoes I haven’t worn in years.

Summary: In this revised and updated edition of her classic, bestselling book, Karen Kingston draws on her wealth of experience as a clutter clearing, space-clearing, and feng shui practitioner to show you how to transform your life by letting go of clutter. Her unique approach lies in understanding that clutter is stuck energy that has far-reaching physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual effects. You’ll be motivated to clutter clear as never before when you realize just how much your junk has been holding you back!

You will learn:

– Why people keep clutter

– How clutter causes stagnation in your life

– How to clear clutter quickly and effectively

– How to live clutter-free