Struggling to be seen? 🏡 This will help.

Have you ever been curious about how others see you?

Or why they don’t see you?

It’s an especially irritating question when you work hard at something that requires visibility.

👉 Growing a business
👉 Building an audience
👉 Expresing your ideas
👉 Navigating relationships

The answers may just lie in your home.

One of the tools we use in the feng shui world is called the bagua map. It looks like a tic tac toe board, and it overlays your home’s floor plan to show what area of your home is associated with what area of your life.

There’s an area of the bagua map that we call Fame & Reputation. It’s associated with the energy of how you’re seen in the world and what you’re known for.

If you’re perpetually feeling overlooked, then keep reading…

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About 7 years ago, I rebranded my business - officially dubbing myself the Space Doula. I even remodeled my office to mark the occasion.

The problem was my brand wasn’t sticking. And my business wasn’t growing.

So, I hired myself.

The first question my professional self asked my frustrated self 👉 what do you want?

My answer 👉 to be known as the Space Doula

The second question my professional self asked my frustrated self 👉 what does your house say about how you want to be known to others?

My answer 👉 oh sh*t!

I used the bagua map to identify the Fame & Reputation area of my home and was horrified to see a toddler-size art table. It’s not like it was hidden. It sat in plain sight in the middle of my kitchen. I had just stopped noticing it - even though my youngest was about to enter middle school!

I then used the bagua map to identify the Fame & Reputation area of my newly decorated office - where 3 VERY large photographs hung of my children.

My snarky professional self then asked 👉 do you now see what’s blocking you from being seen?

In the area of my home associated with how I wanted to be seen in the world, I was screaming mom.

It’s not that I didn’t want to be a mom. Or I didn’t love my kids. It’s that the mom role was familiar…and safe. Spreading my wings and stepping into the role of Space Doula felt unfamiliar and slightly wobbly.

These are the times when our home can support us.

I donated the art table that nobody was using and moved my kitchen hutch filled with my favorite things to this space. I then moved the 3 photographs of my kids upstairs and replaced them with a VERY large sign of my Space Doula logo.

Were these changes responsible for the growth in my business?

Yes, but not simply because I shifted the energy in my home.

My business grew, because I used feng shui to shift the energy in my home AND to identify a block I didn’t know was there.

I had been using my kids as a convenient excuse for not flying to a client’s house, launching a big program, or consistently writing a newsletter - even though I had resources to help me with my kids.

My home suddenly became my accountability partner for the professional dreams I had.

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NOW OVER TO YOU

Curious what your home is saying? And what feng shui changes you can make to support how you want to be seen in the world?

HERE’S HOW ::

1. Answer these questions:

• What do I want to be known for in the world?

• How do I want to be seen/heard in the world?

• Do I have the visibility that I want?

2. Identify the Fame & Reputation area of your home:

• Stand at your front door looking in.

• Imagine your home divided into a grid of 9 equal boxes - like a tic tac toe board.

• The Fame & Reputation area is the space on the opposite side of the house in the middle.

your front door

(I know not all homes are square. Your grid may consist of rectangular shaped boxes, rather than square ones. If you have an attached garage, consider that as part of your home’s footprint.)

3. Go to the Fame & Reputation area in your home - even if it is a bathroom or a closet - and ask these questions:

• What adjectives would I use to describe this space? (This is often reflective of how you feel about this area of your life.)

• If this space were a metaphor for how I’m being seen in the world, what would it be?

4. Shift the energy in this space by:

• Decluttering or moving anything that:

  • You don’t love, need, or use

  • Contradicts/blocks how you want to be seen in the world

  • Is dying or broken

  • Makes the space feel tight or restrictive

  • Drains your inspiration or passion

• Adding those things that pair well with the feng shui Fame & Reputation area including:

  • Light of any genre (lamp, nightlight, fairy lights)

  • Things associated with the element of fire

  • Things that are red or orange in color

  • Things that are triangular or pointy in shape

  • Animal prints or things made from animals

  • Objects representing what you want to be known for

  • Objects that inspire you

  • Symbols of accomplishments

NOTE ::

You can also do this process for a particular room in your home (ie. your bedroom or office.) To do so, stand at the door to the room looking in. The Fame & Reputation area of the room is the space on the opposite side of the room in the middle.

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I’d love to know any big aha moments you have.

Let us know in the comments!

And remember this is a process. Your space should always be evolving, because you are always evolving.

Just this past January, I committed to showing up on Substack every day to share my work. I simultaneously felt the nudge to redecorate the Fame & Reputation area of my home.

Two weeks ago, I received a notice from Substack that I was #10 on the leaderboard for rising authors in the category of Faith & Spirituality. Being in the top 10 along with Elizabeth Gilbert was a pinch me moment.

xoxo
Dorena
Space Doula®

P.S. There are just 2 spots left in the Hierarchy of the Home program, starting next week. If you’d like support in using feng shui to create transformation in your life, we’d love to have you!