Finding my Qi

Moving in a new apartment can be challenging. Trying to make your apartment feel like a home can be even more difficult. Bare walls and a sense of a temporary home never seemed to bother me before, but ever since my wonderful roommate last year who was passionate about making our apartment feel like a home, I have realized how important it is for my spirit, as well as everyone else’s to have a place that is welcoming and homey feeling.. And lucky for me, a good friend of mine just happens to be a feng shui master! Jim, who recently returned from an LDS mission in France, was taught by an ancient Chinese master deep in the mountains of France!Way too legit, so Kirsten (my roommate) and I decided to use his knowledge on our quest for finding our apartment’s qi.

We separated our front area into sections – Knowledge, wealth, friendship, family, and relationship. Wealth is the furthest left from the door, where we strategically placed our fish and a cute little green succulent.

On the opposite corner, we have out area for knowledge. We have a small stack of books on our coffee table, soon to sit between book ends, and a stack of them in a cloth drawer underneath.

In the kitchen, we have beads hanging from the ceiling. Crystals, turquoise, and some green stone beads. This is considered out relationship area, but we are roughly using the feng shui model, so it may not run completely in line. But there are no mirrors in that area! We do not want to invite a third party into any relationships we may have!

Our family section is the where the refrigerator is. We are going to post pictures of everyone’s family on there. And then on our door, we have encouraging quotes, as well as pictures. That way as we go out to face the world, we will have a positive start. We also hung pictures on twine and clothes pins, which may sounds kind of weird, but I actually really like this idea. My roommate from last year put this in our living room, and I loved it. We would clip on drawings or leaves, special notes, or anything we wanted really. It really showed a bit of each of our personalities and was so fun. Right now we have pretty ordinary pictures on it, but soon it will shine with our personalities! I know it!

I realized that decorating an apartment isn’t as scary as it seems. Actually, it was really simple.We hung a sheet I have with big flowers on it on the wall. It really brought a lot of color into the room, making it incredibly more cheerful. And then making a fun adventure out of the whole ordeal was a good idea, and I would say I grew closer to my friends.

So I love being in my home – my shelter from the stresses of the world. This may come as a surprise to all 3 of you – but I stress out so easily! It’s a problem. So having this space where I can relax is something that really helps, I’ve realized. Today when I came back home from work (which just happens to be one of the most stressful jobs there is – catering) I immediately felt all the problems melt away. I love having this sanctuary and the company of some really wonderful people.