I had this thought earlier, in the shower, of how some rooms just really affect your mood.
It’s not just the color of the room, but certain placements of items/things or as the Chinese call it, the “feng shui.”
I recently changed out my partner’s shower curtain[decorative] that he has had for years --and to be completely honest, I hated the color of it.
Every time I’d go in there to take a shower or wash my face, the room seemed so gloomy. The curtain was this dark charcoal color gray. So instead of that thing, I bought a nice cotton white curtain with 10 thin gray/black stripes across it (emphasizing the mostly white in color part) and towels to match.
And let me tell you, the whole vibe of that room has completely changed. Now, it has a warmer vibe now as it is way more uplifting, in its overall energy, as well as it makes the whole room reflect the light. Now, when I shower, I don’t feel like I’m trapped in a rain cloud haha.
Anyways, this got me critically thinking --as I always am doing. Where does this add up in our psyche or play into language… of course 😀
SO I came up with this meditation/ self-reflection, which could be done with just one person or roommates/partners etc.
In this meditation (can be done over a long period of time as long as intention is in it), you [and others] go into each room in the house and sit with it. You put your intention into the room, realizing what you like or dislike about the room;
Examine everything from the lamp shades, couch [or lack of], the chosen shades of colors, clutter, emptiness [or lack of], closets, plants [or lack of], the carpet [or lack of] etc. and decide if you want to rearrange or keep these same things in the same places.
Now, I only named a few things which are mostly physical items. Maybe start to think outside of the box by looking at each item for more than just its purpose in the room, but, rather, how it made its way into the spot it is living in today.
Start asking questions like;
Why do I have this in this room specifically? Who gave me this item or where did I buy it? What purpose does this item or color serve me and what is my attachment to this item?
By going through this practice, you’d be surprised by what it is in these very rooms that give you the so-called vibe or “feng shui."
Yes, this can very much so be a spiritual practice of sorts, a sort of “spring cleaning” so to say. But, you’d be surprised to find out that this is actually just a collection of experiences and the relation the owner of the items /room have connecting into their own perception of reality, or you guessed it, “schema or schemas.”
The more and more I dig my feet into Schema Theory [see my most recent blogs], the more and more I tend to find these pulls, relating from many areas of everyday life, not only the psyche aspect [which is already a talked about theory in the psychology community] but where the ties of the physical and non-physical, or experiences with words and other humans, come together.
Let me preface this with what I mean by non-physical; I am talking about language and how that creates the society we thrive in and the many societies we maintain naturally among ourselves.
Every moment as a child, from the moment we left our mother’s womb, we all had day in and day out experiences that shaped what makes us as individuals today. They are and will be completely unique experiences as our mothers are none in the same. Maybe some are similar, but the experiences our mothers had before us shape our experiences and the ones we have yet to have.
What we relate to in some areas, carries over into others.
I know this can be tricky to think about, concretely.
The energies we collect from our experiences as a child and into adulthood are interrelated. Our mental health also does this and it’s basically a major part of language. What we determine to be “happy” or “sad” very much depends on those experiences we had growing up relating those words to those feelings. Some may call this trauma, but that’s not the path I’m going down today in this blog post. But, can you see the picture I’m painting?
Getting back to my point, what we collect in our homes is a representation of us as individuals [duh] but it ties into our language [stems from] which carries over into our thoughts and feelings about the way we function with the physical items or rooms in our homes. Just when you think language is not important or present in what you put in your home, language gets you to buy or take that item and place it into your home.
Is there a room in your house that spooks you out or doesn’t feel right? You might have ghosts haha OR you might have some items in there that you might not realize you don’t like. Our subconscious has a funny way of speaking to us through what we possess. Sometimes, we hold onto items because of traditions passed down to us, through language. Sometimes we have items or colors we wear that maybe we don’t really actually like, but our experiences and language prevent us from removing them. Remember, language is constantly evolving and changing.
And sure, there are things you have, that you put no thought into why you have it, but you still have it, right?
Why? Why not something else?
When I take a look at a lot of items I have in my home and colors they are- they are mostly different shades of reds, blues, lavender, greens, and white.
When I consciously think, “why do I like these colors?” I find myself in my memories, reminded of the red silk curtains I had growing up in my room and how they reminded me of different cultures and the vibrancy of colors used in the Middle East and India. My family and I used to travel a lot and eat different foods from other parts of the world, so I was exposed pretty early to other cultures. To me, red makes me excited and feel like I am creating an environment of mystery and warmth- colors that make me feel alive and curious- happy. These are all my own experiences with this color and my own definition.
Now you could say, yes well psychologists have determined the color red to make someone feel excited and be attracted to the opposite sex or whatever. Sure, I believe in that as well with countless other studies, but let’s remember something important. When studies and surveys are conducted, they are being conducted on people —people who use language to communicate. We are using language to gauge how people, through their language, experience something happening to them or an experience they had happen to them.
So, naturally, we do it in our homes with what we choose to have [keep] or let go of, metaphorically or physically.
My next article I’ll provide some more references for those looking for resources for my thoughts!
Thanks for reading.