The tambourine principle

Last week I turned 48, and when I asked myself what I actually wanted for this year, I finally admitted it: More fun.

Not as a reward after all the adulting is done. Not as the cherry on top if there's time left over. But joy for its own sake. Prioritized.

And as a feng shui practitioner, I know there are big and small ways that my home can get involved.

For example: I walk through my front door exhausted after a long day, face a hallway cluttered with shoes, backpacks, and boxes, navigate around yesterday's mess, and by the time I get to the living room I've already used up the patience reserve I managed for coworkers all day. My family gets what's left - or if I live alone, I get what's left of myself. Which isn't much.

This isn't about trying harder. It's about your home stealing the energy that should be going to the people and moments that actually matter - including you.

This week's Torah portion, Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16), gives us Miriam's song and dance at the Red Sea. The women didn't bring tambourines because the sea split. They brought them from Egypt - made them during slavery, carried them on the journey out, kept them ready for a celebration they couldn't yet see.

Miriam's song and dance represent the restoration of the Shechinah - that divine feminine presence that dwells in the world, making holiness accessible in everyday life. The women's tambourines weren't response to miracle - they were preparation that made miracle possible.

Joy isn't something that happens TO you when conditions are right. Joy is something you CREATE CONDITIONS FOR.

IS YOUR HOME BROADCASTING THE WRONG FREQUENCY?

Right now, your home might be tuned to survival mode - efficient, organized, functional. Getting things done. Checking boxes. Making it through another day.

But what if your home was tuned to celebration mode? Not "someday when we can afford the renovation" celebration. Now celebration.

The kind where you walk through the door and the space itself reminds you there's more to life than managing it - and gives you back the energy to actually live it.

WORKING WITH THE CENTRAL AXIS: FROM INTENTION TO EXPRESSION

In feng shui's bagua map based on the Lo Shu magic square, there's a powerful vertical line running through the center of your home from front to back. This middle column connects three critical life areas:

To work with this axis: Stand inside your front door and imagine a line running straight through the center of your home from front to back. This center line passes through Gua 1 (near the entrance), Gua 5 (the middle), and Gua 9 (toward the back). Not all of this axis may be easily accessible - the center might be a hallway, or the back area might be in a room you don't use often. Work with what you can access.

Gua 1 represents where you begin - what enters your life, the intentions that cross your threshold.

Gua 5 is where you sustain - the grounded center that holds everything together. Where intentions either take root or get lost in the chaos.

Gua 9 is where you express - the fire that makes internal reality visible. Where private practice becomes public celebration, where what you've been preparing finally gets played.

Right now, that path might be telling a different story.

THE PRACTICE: TUNING YOUR HOME TO JOY

This week, work with the 1-5-9 axis. The practices below are labeled by gua number so you can adapt them to whichever areas are available to you.

Sunday (Yang/Sun) - Gua 1 (Career/Entrance Area)

What's the first thing demanding your attention? CLEAR one thing that says "problem to solve" and replace it with one thing that says "welcome home."

Monday (Yin/Moon) - Gua 1 (Career/Entrance Area)

When you come home tired, does this space invite you to pause and transition, or push you immediately into domestic mode? Notice what's missing.

Tuesday (Fire/Joy) - Gua 9 (Fame/Radiance Area)

ADD something purely for delight. Not useful-and-pretty. Just delightful. Something you'd grab if you needed to celebrate right now, even if you have no idea what you'd be celebrating.

Wednesday (Water/Flow) - Gua 5 (Center/Unity Area)

Does it feel like a place where things come together, or where things pile up? TEND to whatever makes this area feel more like a gathering point than a passageway.

Thursday (Wood/Growth) - Gua 9 (Fame/Radiance Area)

CLEAR any dead plants or add something living and green. Wood feeds fire - living growth in this area amplifies your capacity for visible joy and celebration.

Friday (Metal/Structure) - All Three Areas (1, 5, 9)

Light incense in each of these three areas if you can access them. Use scents that lift: vanilla (warmth, sweetness), sweet orange (joy, energy), or ylang ylang (euphoria, celebration). Let the smoke trace the path from intention to expression.

Saturday (Earth/Grounding) - All Three Areas (1, 5, 9)

REST. Just notice: if joy were to enter through Gua 1 right now, could it travel through Gua 5 and emerge at Gua 9? Or would it get stopped somewhere along the way?

Want to learn how to read your home's energy so you can create your own path from intention to celebration?

My Shana of Shui mini-course starts in February right after the feng shui new year. Six months of working with your space to support who you're becoming - tambourines included.