Making space at home for: the energy you actually want

You probably have a favorite spot at home. Mine is the back right corner of our house, in the living room, where I have a chaise longue-style bean bag that I sink into at the end of the day and observe my home with gratitude and pride. The fresh flowers. The carefully displayed art and pottery. It makes me happy just looking at it — like all is right in the world. Or at least in my little abode.

I didn't create that corner by accident. I arranged it with intention, the way the Mishkan was arranged — every element chosen, every detail honored. And here's what I've noticed: my body knows. My feet take me there without thinking. I don't have to convince myself to sit there. The chi is so good that it pulls me.

But there are other corners I avoid. Spaces that feel heavy, or cluttered, or like they're asking something of me I'm not ready to give. I didn't used to understand why. Now I know: those spaces are speaking too. They're just speaking a different language — the language of what's blocked, what needs tending, what wants to shift.

This week's Torah portion, Terumah (Exodus 25:1–27:19), is the beginning of something massive — the Torah devotes more than a quarter of the entire Book of Exodus to building the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary where divine presence dwells. More space than almost any other single topic in the Torah. And it starts not with blueprints but with this: "from every person whose heart moves them" (25:2). Hasidic teaching emphasizes that the word terumah means offering — not obligation, not duty, but willingness. Voluntary attention, freely given, is what creates the conditions for presence to dwell.

And here's the thing: attention IS the offering. Noticing where you linger and where you look away — that's not the warm-up before the real work. That's the work. But the Mishkan didn't just ask for willing hearts — it gave extraordinarily specific instructions for where each offering belonged, and the bagua does the same thing for your home.

THIS WEEK'S CONCEPT: THE BAGUA — YOUR HOME'S BLUEPRINT

The bagua map is a nine-area grid that shows you what each zone of your home governs in your life — like the Mishkan's detailed instructions for where the menorah goes, where the ark rests, where incense burns. Every position has meaning.

In BTB feng shui, align your front door with the bottom edge:, you're not creating rigidity—you're creating the container that allows everything else to flow.

Where to find it: Stand at your front door facing in. The left corner nearest you is Wisdom. The far left corner is Wealth. The far right is Love. The center is Health.

What the bagua reveals when you pay attention:

• Which life areas you naturally tend (the spaces you gravitate to)

• Which life areas are starving for attention (the spaces you walk past)

• Where your home is already supporting you — and where it's waiting for an offering

  
  

When your favorite corner falls in Wealth, that's not coincidence — it's your home telling you abundance already has your attention. When the shelf you ignore sits in Career, that's information too.

THE 7-DAY EXPERIMENT

You don't need to rearrange anything. Just run a one-week experiment with noticing where your attention already lives according to the bagua, and where it's been absent.

Sunday (Yang/Sun)

OBSERVE your home in full daylight. Walk through slowly and notice where your body wants to linger and where it speeds up. Notice: Which rooms or corners pull you in? Which do you pass through without a second glance?

Monday (Yin/Moon)

 SENSE the space you avoid most — the corner, shelf, or zone where your attention never voluntarily lands. Stand there for thirty seconds without fixing anything. Notice: What life theme does this gua govern on the bagua map, and does that resonate?

Tuesday (Fire/Joy)

ADD one warm light source — a candle or small lamp — to the gua you identified yesterday. Place it with the intention of bringing visibility to what's been in the dark. Notice: Does illuminating this area shift how the surrounding space feels?

Wednesday (Water/Flow)

CLEAR one stagnant item from your neglected gua — something untouched, outdated, or sitting there by default rather than choice. Notice: Does energy move differently through that zone with one less thing holding it still?

Thursday (Wood/Growth)

ADD something living to your neglected gua — a plant, a single fresh flower, herbs in a glass. This is your voluntary offering: tending to a life area that's been waiting. Notice: Do you find yourself checking on it — voluntarily — throughout the day?

Friday (Metal/Structure)

ORGANIZE one element within your neglected gua with intention. Straighten, return, complete. Notice: When this area has clarity, does the life theme it governs feel any clearer to you?

Saturday (Earth/Grounding)

REST and walk through your home one more time. Notice both spaces — the one that already had your heart and the one you brought an offering to this week. Notice: Has the distance between them shifted?

CLOSING INSIGHT

The Mishkan had exact instructions for where each offering belonged, because willing attention needs direction to become sacred space. The bagua gives your home that same gift. When you offer your attention with intention — guided by this map — you're inviting divine presence to dwell.

Make space for the presence that's been waiting for your attention.