Environmental Affirmations
With the New Year upon us, many people are inspired to turn over a new leaf and to motivate themselves to adopt new habits and behaviours. The use of affirmations – ‘positive’ statements that reflect a supportive way of thinking and being – is one commonly applied way to do change our thoughts and therefore behaviour. There are many greeting cards and posters with motivational sayings that are now commonly seen framed in offices and homes. While there is no doubt that what you think impacts your experience, there can be challenges with how affirmations are commonly used that impacts their effectiveness.
The choice of words in many affirmations can point to attractive concepts that are nevertheless not supportive. A popular one I’ve seen is Emily Dickinson’s quote “Dwell In Possibility”. Why would you want to do that? Don’t you want to get things done? Possibilities are great to explore, but if you want to take something from the world of possibility and then manifest something, you cannot continue to dwell in possibility.
Additionally, affirmations that use the imperative tense can also have unintended consequences, such as “Forgive” or “Do what you love.” The problem when faced with an ‘order’ like this (the imperative verb tense used here is telling you to do something) is that we often tend to resist commands: no one likes being told what to do, particularly at home… it triggers memories of a parent telling you to do what they think you should do. Additionally, this statement is affirming that we are not already doing this: if you were forgiving people in your life, you wouldn’t need to post a statement telling you to do so. So in fact, this affirmation reminds you that you are not naturally doing what you say you want to do.
I’ll never forget one consultation with a client who had opposite her bed a large banner that read, “Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen.” So she was being told that she needed to believe it (because she didn’t) and the statement stated that something wonderful was about to happen and therefore wasn’t happening now. When I brought this to her attention, she was aghast, as I had articulated her experience: she always felt that she was on the cusp of a breakthrough that never quite came…
So unfortunately affirmations can create the exact opposite from the intended consequences for which they are used. Their linguistic framework means the access point to our consciousness is restricted to mental language, which ties in with our belief system – the source of our limiting concepts. While words can help us over time to make shifts to broader emotional, spiritual, and physical states, they will not necessarily do so.
On the other hand, Feng Shui works by using subliminal affirmations in our surroundings: objects and images that create connections with desired states of being and thoughts. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the associations created from environmental stimuli can go a lot further than even the best-chosen words. Additionally, the colours, forms, and other connections created by these objects can work in subtler ways by bypassing the belief system’s linguistic centre and stimulating an emotional state that is consistent with the spiritual state we are looking to experience. A picture of a relaxing setting could work better than a poster that has words about being calm (we all probably know from experience that telling someone who is not calm to calm down rarely achieves that result!); an image of a person meditating is more powerful than something that says “Turn Inward” or “Trust Yourself.” A skilled Feng Shui consultant knows what kinds of images in what locations can help to stimulate supportive thoughts in specific areas of your life.
If you are going to use artwork that includes words, be mindful of what is being said. Often a single word – ideally referring to a state of being, like “Delight” or “Presence” – can work, but it’s better not to use single-word verbs like “Trust” or “Believe,” as these imply that you are not already doing that. Sentences are best chosen with caution – I prefer quotes that speak to a Truth as opposed to a command, such as a line from a poem or important text (ideally they will feature an image or be attractively written). If it has an image that catches your eye more than the text, it may help you to feel in the moment the state you wish to embody both now and in the future.
May your home speak to you in the layered languages of your experience.