Living in your home as though you were staying with a good dose of Environmental Therapy
Andrea was ready for some Environmental Therapy – and even though I had to navigate two road blocks to reach her in Sherborne, Dorset, I made it in the end for a productive and inspired session.
“Thank you so much for your time, Mary. I found it very inspiring and I feel excited and positive about the future living in this home now.”
Her situation is not uncommon these days.
Believing she would sell her house in Farnham quickly several years ago, Andrea went ahead and rented a newly styled cottage in Sherborne, assuming it would only ever be temporary. Five years later, although she had been able to rent out her own property, she still hadn’t managed to sell it.
She had begun to feel slightly ‘perched’ in the rental – very happy there, yet never fully connected to it because she believed she might leave at any moment. Many of her pictures still rested against walls. Ornaments remained tucked away in drawers. Paperwork sat boxed up. And while her furniture fitted surprisingly well into the cottage, there was simply too much of it for the available space.
So she had two reasons for inviting me in:
1. To help her truly inhabit the home and feel settled there – because notwithstanding the limitations landlords sometimes impose, it is still her home, not merely a business arrangement.
2. To remove any obstacles and resistance to the free flow of energy through the space – creating greater ease for the sale of her Surrey property, while also welcoming new opportunities and therapy clients in the meantime.
Here’s Andrea’s account just two days after my visit:
“I went shopping this morning for a throw and cushions to enliven the ‘connections and travel’ area of my home, in line with the rusty orange and yellow colours that feature so strongly on my vision board. Shifting the sofa just 10 centimetres has opened up the room, while removing some of the extra ornaments I’d accumulated makes everything feel more spacious and inviting.
The curtains arrived for the kitchen area where I like to sit, work on creative projects and look out onto the garden. They’re now ironed and up. Rearranging the plants here really works. Moving the pile of papers behind my armchair helps too. And I have finally hung my Degas dancer in a prominent place.
I’m still looking out for a compact unit to sit beside me and house my various creative projects in one place as you suggested.
All the other pictures that had been lying around are now up as well. I even found a fruit bowl for the dining table tucked away in a drawer. I still need to visit the framers so I can hang the large mirror in the ‘career/path in life’ area of the hallway and bring more light into this space.
I’ve bought a new all-weather doormat for the front door to better demarcate my home. And I’ve already spoken to the agent about cutting back the massive bush that was beginning to block the entrance and conceal my door number – something you immediately picked up on.
It’s worked a treat already because I had a new client enquiry yesterday booked in.
Meanwhile, in the back garden, I’ve asked about removing the dead rose bush now that I’ve done all the hard work of clearing masses of overgrown shrubs that were fighting one another. I’m on the lookout for the statue you recommended for the ‘wealth’ corner, along with some cosy outdoor seating for two in the ‘relationship’ corner to catch the late afternoon sun.
Upstairs, my office already feels so much lighter and more welcoming since we moved one of the tables I was using as a return. I’ve still got books and study materials to go through in both the office and therapy room next door, but I feel I’ve made a really good start in just two days.
Most importantly, I know exactly what I need to do next in order to complete the job. I look forward to having you back in a few weeks’ time to see the results.”
Once we’d finished, Andrea was keen to take me to The Sherborne for coffee and cake – an imaginative and beautiful restoration of an old girls’ school that is now an art gallery, music and film venue, restaurant and café.
Even the toilets had wow factor. The waiting area alone was a sight to behold on an otherwise overcast day, while each individual toilet featured a different animal theme. I chose the cheetah – my favourite animal as a child.
Meanwhile, life in Seaton through May has been delightful, with plenty of swims in the sea at very acceptable temperatures. Though looking out there today at the troubled waves and with the forecast of a week’s rain, I suspect it may be a little while before the sea is ready for me again.