It starts with a couch (or any piece of furniture, really). Just move it. If you are feeling stagnant in your life or in your living room, move something! It moves the energy, the Chi, the flow. Instantly you are aware there is a world of new possibilities - just by moving a simple piece of furniture. It's a lot like the book If You Give A Mouse a Cookie , once you start, it inspires something else. I used to do this a ton as a kid - Mom would always be able to tell when I got stressed from school or life just by the sound of my moving my bed and dresser late at night when I couldn't sleep. Even as a ten-year-old I think I was somehow subconsciously aware of Fen Shui, where you put your things matter. How you feel on the inside can reflect and manifest on the outside, and what you surround yourself with then, in turn, feeds how you feel on the inside. This goes back and forth forever and ever and ever! So just move something! Suddenly you'll see a crack of light where it was dark before. It's like when you feel sick and you decide to wear a button up instead of those sweats for the third day in a row. There's a shift in your energy.
If you want to see a change, you have to move something.
How to move a couch:
Or any hefty piece of furniture... First use some furniture slider discs. As a petite person who thinks she can lift and move things way too big for her and is beyond determined, I recommend them so you don't actually hurt yourself. Here's a start for you on Amazon. (I'm sorry I lied, I added a link for you!! )
Now that you can slide away to your hearts content, let's move to the next thing: Where have you always wanted to see that piece of furniture? Have you ever wondered if you could give yourself more space?
STOP! You're already thinking of why it won't work! How you do you know unless you try?! This is the beauty of the journey. Explore this world of possibilities. I know these blocking thoughts come up. I've had them, I've listened to my clients say them, I've heard their well-meaning spouse say it from their judgemental seat at the dining table closely eyeing me as I "change their precious world". But trust me on this, if you want to see a change in your life you have to move something.
Real life example:
I helped my mom move some furniture in her living room a few months ago. They had this huge loveseat sofa/fold out bed-thing that was in the living room and every time my mom saw it, it reminded her that it wasn't where it should have been. Originally it was bought to go upstairs in the guest room... but unfortunately, not all the measurements were taken into account for for getting that massive beast up the old 1920's built staircase. Now it sat in the living room, taunting and teasing my mother every freaking day. I really don't think she was aware of how that stupid couch affected her. But I saw it (as an outsider) and one day I asked if we could move it to the corner of the adjoining dining room. Thankfully, she was game to try. We cleared a path to move the couch, moved it to the desired space, then stepped back to take a look and feel the space. Suddenly we thought of other walls it could be on and different angles. We moved tables and chairs, stepped back, looked, hemmed and hawed, and after about 20 minutes of moving things around we put it back to the first option - the corner. That felt the best - but you have to try all the options . We moved the dining table that was in the middle of the room to another wall and suddenly the dining room became an extension of the living room! More space! Ta-freaking-da!
Since moving that couch, we noticed some other furniture in the living room that was creating "bogged down" feelings. We cleared out a few super tall pieces of furniture so the room didn't feel so cluttered and overbearing... I'll talk about furniture and eye levels and whatnot in another blog. All in all, my mom and dad have felt a huge difference in their living area now that we've cleared some space and made the flow of the room more inviting and free.
Don't psych yourself out about moving a little furniture. It's a fun game and if you wind up putting everything back where it all started, that's fine too. More than likely you've discovered a few treasures lost behind or under some furniture. Win-win!
Advice, there is so much of it! Everywhere! So here's mine: Trust your gut. Think about what you do in your space. Don't worry about perfection. Spend a little time in The Land of What If. It's one of my favorite places; it starts with a couch.