The Feng Shui of Dish Towels
There’s an energy to everything we own, and part of that energy is the story that we share with that item.
Something that should be “good Feng Shui” might have a complicated history that holds you back.
You might have something you wouldn’t normally think of as pretty or valuable, but the story or the person who gave it to you imbues it with a kind of energy that lights you up inside.
I recently decided that dish towels are going to be a collectible for me. Not the kind of collectible you put out in a display case, but I guess hanging in my kitchen counts as display. This is a souvenir I actually use.
This top towel, with the flamingo, is one of my latest additions to my small collection. I got it on my recent trip to visit family back home in Colorado. I was in a funky shop around the corner from my Mom’s house when I saw this towel. At first it made me think of my sister, she has fun parties with cocktails and themes.
Then I realized that I really wanted it for myself. The sentiment expressed on it is absolutely my sense of humor. “That sounds like a terrible idea….what time?” is consistent with my desire to get into mischief. In reality I fantasize about mischief more than I get into mischief, but I have a heart of mischief and that’s all that really matters. I think. Anyway….focus.
Then there are the other two towels, you can only see a sliver of one, the absolutely ordinary looking towels in the picture. Those bring me a lot of joy. Every time I go to get a dish towel and I see these I’m reminded of a really amazing trip.
I spent a month in Botswana, staying with a local woman I found through airbnb. Her place was pretty rustic and it turns out she didn’t provide towels. I had a travel towel, but those are smooth and kind of unsatisfying to use.
Every few days I would walk about a mile to the Choppies Market in Tlokweng and that’s where I got these towels. I remember how the color of the dirt and the types of plants reminded me of New Mexico, and I had to catch myself so I’d remember I was in the Kalahari, not the USA. I was enchanted by the cows and the dirt roads even though we were essentially in a suburb of the capital. I remember that so many things felt less sophisticated while the credit card processing, cell phone technology, and even ATMs were ahead of what we have in the USA. I’m reminded that life felt slower and more grounded.
If you’ve ever read the ‘Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency’ books, then you might remember Tlokweng. I enjoyed the connection between the place I was visiting and the books I’d read. I went to the places the main character mentioned. I went to where she went to have high tea, and I became very sentimental about having my bush tea just like she did.
All these memories surface every time I see those dish towels.
This is one of the most delightful aspects of Feng Shui, realizing the value of things like these towels. It can also help us root out insidious and toxic energy.
For example, maybe you have something beautiful that you feel like you like the look of so you keep it around. But if you were to take a moment to really think about it, to remember the story of it, you might remember that it’s loaded with memories that don’t serve you. Memories that don’t lift you up. When that’s the case, it’s time to re-home the beautiful object so someone without that history can enjoy it.
To do this I recommend you thank the item for teaching you, and for sharing it’s beauty or usefulness. Whatever the case may be. If you have a rattle or some incense like cedar you can clear the energy from that object and then donate it or give it away. You can clear the energy, but you can’t erase the memories you have tied to an object. Don’t try and talk yourself into overcoming toxic memories.
Another category of item to let go of includes items that make you feel like you haven’t completed something. Do you have a bunch of unfinished craft or repair projects? Either get them done (especially in the case of things like household repairs), or let them go. You might start to tell yourself that you’ll get to it soon, but stop yourself right there. Be honest with yourself. Will you really? If you haven’t yet, does that show you anything about the reality of that situation. Those kinds of things drag down our energy.
What I’d like to invite you to do is to go into a room where you spend a lot of time and look around. Some items may need a bit of a meditation to remember the whole history, but see what you find. See if there are some things that need to go. See if there are some things that bring you joy.
Let me know how that goes! I hope you’ll share your stories!
*Typos and errors included at no additional charge.
