Today is Five-Minute Feng Shui Friday, so I decided to see what I might be able to accomplish in five minutes in the way of de-cluttering. We are in a Mercury Retrograde, which I have found to be an excellent time to release items and remove them from my house and life.

During a Mercury Retrograde, the planet Mercury appears to be moving in reverse orbit – going backwards. During this time doing any activity that starts with “re” is usually good. For instance, “re-negotiating” is often an issue within the real estate industry. In fact, I have several realtors who have contacted me about this very issue in the last couple of days.

It’s a great time to “re-plant” flowers and shrubs to give them more breathing room. I’ve been doing a lot of that myself in the cool of the morning and evenings.

It’s also a great time to release items that don’t serve us, re-organize files or re-arrange space or files. It just seems to be easier to do these things during a Mercury Retrograde (and even more so between the Full Moon and the New Moon, which we are experiencing this weekend.)

As an example, Yesterday I went through a complete file drawer. I cleared it of all the old folders and shredded papers with confidential information. My “re-cycle” bin was half full this morning.

Empty Drawer from releasing and removing during Mercury Retrograde

Empty Drawer from releasing and removing during Mercury Retrograde

Today, since we’ve been going through a remodel for far too many years, I decided to tackle one drawer in a dresser that’s been in storage and neglected for several of those years. I knew there were lots of things in the drawer I no longer needed or used. I figured it might take me more than 5 minutes, but decided to see just how quickly I might be able to clear a large quantity from it. It took me about 15 minutes to go completely through the drawer, bag up most of the items to give to a charity and organize the rest.

I’ve learned to allow the whole day or at least half a day to do projects like this. I start with only planning to work 30 minutes. If I get on a roll, I’ve got the rest of the day to continue working without interruption.

I managed to go through 3 drawers in just about an hour. I decided I wanted to get the items physically out of my house – to “re-move” them to another location. I bagged and boxed up the items, drove to the charity and was back home in just over 75 minutes.

This weekend is a better than usual time to release, remove and redecorate. Not only do we have a Mercury Retrograde whose energy allows us to release more easily, we also have the energy of the moon getting smaller as we approach the New Moon on Monday.

I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on 3 full days of “re-leasing the old to make way for the new,” as well as “re-potting” and “re-arranging” anything I can. In Feng Shui they say that if you want to change your life, move 27 things you haven’t moved in the last year.

Since I moved about 99 items, I can’t wait to see how my life changes over the next few weeks.

Let me know what you find you can release and remove from your life this weekend. It’s a great way to “re-fresh” your life with vital energy.