shift your stuff, shift your energy
- Lana S. Price
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
lana price, sunflower, 2025, polaroid 600, 4.25" x 3.5"
I’m feeling a bit stuck. A good idea has run its course, and I’m in need of a new idea. Or even an old idea revived. I need something to shift.
I remembered a simple solution: to shift the energy in your life, shift the stuff in your home. This is highly pragmagical, a two-for-one special of pragmatic space cleaning + magical energy clearing.
Many different spiritual and cultural traditions have practices to move or clear energy in spaces. For example, feng shui is all about the arrangement of your environment and its influence on life force (qi). North American Indigenous Nations, like the Coast Salish and Lummi here in the Pacific Northwest, burn cedar for cleansing and protection. Tibetan singing bowls use resonant sound to purify space. And so on.
I remembered a few times when I put this in practice for other people:
Clearing stagnation after injury. I had a friend who had broken her leg and was spending much of her time at home on the couch, and sinking into a depression. When I came over to spend time with her, I could immediately tell the energy in her living room was stagnant. I opened the windows, vacuumed the entire area, shifted some items around (moved books off the floor, rearranged the pillows), and finally saged* the space. The change in her mood was immediate. Some of it was likely due to being cared for, but I also think it was from the fresh energy.
* white sage has been overharvested due to widespread commercial demand, making it harder for Indigenous communities to access for their ceremonial use. So use up any sage you have, but please don't buy more!
A renewed focus on health. When my dad was going through cancer treatment last summer, he had to go on a new diet. I took almost two full days to clean out and re-arrange all of the food in the kitchen. My parents were holding on to a lot of old sh*t! Like unopened condiments from the previous decade, racks of expired spices, and containers of frozen leftovers that were never going to see the light of day again. Having all that clutter was mentally draining, because it both looked like the shelves were full, yet there was nothing to eat! His new diet began with something simple: seeing clearly what was actually there, and identifying what to bring in.
Shifting the scene of stress. I had a friend who was incredibly stressed about their job. They worked from home, and everyday they experienced a knot in their stomach before waking up. Their desk was in the (dark and chilly) basement, and I suggested switching the office location with the guest bedroom, which was on the main floor and had a nice window with natural light. It seemed daunting, because the guest bedframe needed to be taken apart and moved downstairs, but they hired a person to help. Then they started decorating their new bright office, adding personal items that made them happy. Being intentional about their physical work environment made a big difference on their psyche, and the knot had space to loosen.
As I reflected on these examples, I realized this might be easier to do for others than to do for oneself. I was reminded of David Foster Wallace’s “this is water” speech: your own stuff is invisible to you because it’s the water you’re swimming in.
So where could I start shifting some energy in my life?
The closet.
The closet is evidence of where I’ve held on to my past lives. The professional in a houndstooth blazer. The cool girl who goes to music shows alone. Halloween outfits, little black dresses. A team sweatshirt for that one time I went to see a game. The statement dress for the art show opening.
Like RuPaul says, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”
There were lots of moments that had passed and identities and associated costumes that needed to be let go. There’s grief in this. I knew this type of big project, with its emotional weight, was ripe for my perfectionism to take over and get into the minutiae.
Part of practicing experiments is to try and define success at its smallest, most basic form. I decided to only focus on the clothes for this coming season: summer. All of the fall/winter/spring clothes went into blue IKEA bags which got banished to another room.
With just the summer clothes in my closet, I swiped hangers left for stuff to get rid of, and swiped right if I wanted to keep them (using those Tinder rapid-decision-making skills). I cherry-picked the name brand stuff from the left for consignment, and the definitely un-cool stuff went into a bag for donation. Some items weren’t quite ready to be let go -- they still left the closet, but joined the banished bag party.
I put a calendar reminder for the first weekend of August to tackle fall.
To me, this closet clearing is an act of realignment. It’s a way of taking stock of things as they are. A way to express gratitude for what’s here and for who I am now. These are my real clothes for my real life as it is today. I still have a few “what if” things in my closet (what if I get invited to a fancy cocktail party), but literally less than five.
I also see a lot of open space. Attention universe! I have shifted the energy for my new idea! I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ve made the space for it to arrive.
I was on the Signal Shift podcast to chat about the future
I had a really fun time returning to the Signal Shift podcast in celebration of its 100th episode. I was a co-host of the show for the first 60 episodes, and now my former co-host and dear friend, Raakhee, is running it solo.
In this episode we swap a few signals of the future (early indicators of cultural and technological shifts) to try and make sense of where the world is heading. I provided counter-signals to the narrative that AI is an unstoppable force, and Raakhee brought a signal about intergenerational creativity.
We also did a look back on some of the themes we discussed in earlier episodes that have since developed more into the mainstream.
If you’re interested in futures thinking, check out Signal Shift. This episode can be found on:
Or if you prefer video, Youtube
Thanks for reading (and watching/ listening). As always, if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to reach out.
i'm lana price and this is my biweekly-ish newsletter. i write about navigating life transitions, bridging practicality and possibility. you can find other writing here. subscribe to get these straight to your inbox.
