Wilderness practices begins at home

This week's special Torah reading during Sukkot, Exodus 33:12-34:26, shows Moses standing in the cleft of a rock asking to see God's glory after the Golden Calf disaster. God's response? The 13 Attributes of Mercy—complete forgiveness so total it wipes the slate clean (V'nakeh). And then, immediately after this cleansing: 40 years of wilderness. Forgiven, yes. But also stripped of everything except daily manna and a tent that had to be packed up and moved.

I'm writing this from Idyllwild in the San Jacinto mountains of Southern California, where yesterday I saw a tin sign with a picture of a bear and John Muir's famous quote: "In wilderness lies the hope of the world." Though often misquoted this way (Muir's actual words were "In wildness is the preservation of the world"), this version somehow captures something even more direct—hope itself lives in the wilderness.

Something about seeing those words here, surrounded by actual wilderness just as we're approaching Sukkot, caught my attention.

Muir wasn't talking about the English concept of wilderness as pristine, unspoiled nature—the kind you visit on vacation to feel restored. He grew up memorizing the entire Old Testament by age 11 in his strict Presbyterian household, so he knew the Hebrew word that appears 272 times in those texts: midbar (מִדְבָּר)—meaning both "desolate place" and, more crucially, "speaking place." Midbar shares its root d-b-r with daber (דַּבֵּר), "to speak."

The wilderness is where God's voice becomes audible because everything else has been stripped away.

This week during Sukkot, we practice a kind of ritual desolation—sitting in temporary shelters (or imagining them) not because suffering is good, but because sometimes the only way to hear truth is to release our grip on false securities. It's about creating conditions for hope to become possible—not hope as "everything will work out my way," but hope as "I am held by something larger than my plans."

ROOM OF THE WEEK: STORAGE AREAS

Storage areas are where we literally embody our relationship with trust and provision. Closets, garages, attics, basements, pantries—these spaces reveal whether we're practicing wilderness hope or hoarding against an imagined future scarcity.

The Israelites in the wilderness couldn't store manna. It spoiled overnight. They had to trust that provision would appear again tomorrow. Every single day for 40 years, they practiced releasing control and showing up for what came next.

Our storage areas ask the same question: Can you trust tomorrow's provision enough to release what you're gripping today?

I love a beautiful stone or a shell displayed in my home as much as anyone—these things inspire us, point us toward something larger. But Muir wasn't talking about bringing the aesthetic of wilderness indoors. He was talking about bringing the function of wilderness into our lives: the stripping away, the trust, the daily provision mindset.

Your storage spaces are not neutral. Stagnant chi accumulates wherever energy cannot move—and nothing blocks chi flow quite like accumulated stuff we're keeping "just in case." That "just in case" is often fear masquerading as prudence. It's the opposite of wilderness hope.

DAILY ENERGY FOCUS

Sunday (Yang/Sun) 

OBSERVE your storage areas in full daylight. What's the first thing you notice—fullness or emptiness? Accessibility or blockage? Yang energy shows you what you've been avoiding seeing.

Monday (Yin/Moon) 

NOTICE how your storage spaces feel in low light or when closed. Does opening a closet door feel heavy or light? Yin energy asks: What are you hiding from yourself in these dark spaces?

Tuesday (Fire/Joy) 

ADD light to one storage area—literally. Replace a bulb, open a door, let brightness in. The joyful energy of fire asks: What would you release if you could actually see what you're keeping? Fire transforms what it illuminates.

Wednesday (Water/Flow) 

OBSERVE how easily you can access what you actually use in storage. Does energy flow, or do you have to move three things to reach one? The flowing energy of water asks: Where are you damming up provision by making it inaccessible?

Thursday (Wood/Growth) 

CLEAR one expired, broken, or unused item from storage. Just one. The growing energy of wood asks: What seed of possibility needs the space this item is occupying? Growth requires releasing what has completed its cycle.

Friday (Metal/Structure) 

ORGANIZE one small section of storage with intention. Not perfection—intention. The structured energy of metal asks: What boundaries would serve you better than this accumulated mass? Creating that indefinable sense of order that makes you feel somehow more spacious, even when visitors never see these hidden areas.

Saturday (Earth/Grounding) 

REST with what you've observed this week. Don't act. Simply notice: What does your relationship with storage reveal about your relationship with trust? Earth's grounding energy asks: Can you be present with what is, rather than scrambling to fix or fill?

BAGUA MAP

Before we look at where your storage spaces fall, consider this: Where in your life are you craving more flow right now? Where energy moves freely and things happen with ease? And where might you need more structure and boundaries—where things feel scattered or overwhelming?

Once you identify these areas, you can use your storage spaces (and the corresponding bagua areas) to support both needs—either releasing what blocks flow or creating systems that provide structure.

If your storage falls in one of these areas of the bagua map, here's how to work with this week's wilderness hope theme:

*In BTB feng shui, we determine the location of each gua by aligning your front door with the bottom of the map below that looks like a tic tac toe board. This is different from the Compass approach to feng shui which uses directions for alignment. Also note that the rooms and walls of your home won't perfectly align with the bagua map, and some rooms may fall in more than one gua area.

Wealth & Prosperity Area (Gua 4)

Whatever your storage here contains—clothes, financial documents, kitchen items—ask yourself: Am I keeping this from fear of scarcity, or does it actively serve my current abundance? Wood's strength of strategic planning supports releasing what blocks prosperity's flow. Consider: CLEAR one item you're holding "just in case" that represents scarcity thinking. ADD jade or malachite—their growth-oriented properties support the flow of new resources. OBSERVE what percentage represents genuine resources versus fear-based hoarding.

Fame & Reputation Area (Gua 9)

Fire's challenge of burnout and intensity may show up as keeping proof you once mattered. Ask: Does this storage represent who I'm becoming or who I was? Consider: CLEAR one item tied to a past identity you've outgrown. ADD garnet or carnelian—their energizing properties support authentic visibility and confidence. TEND to what you're genuinely proud of but have hidden away—make it accessible or display it.

Love & Relationships Area (Gua 2)

Earth's challenge of overthinking and worry can manifest as keeping things out of obligation rather than love. The nurturing head female energy asks: What am I holding onto from guilt versus genuine connection? Consider: CLEAR one gift or inherited item you're keeping from duty. ADD citrine or amber—their warm, heart-opening properties support genuine partnership. OBSERVE whether this storage serves current relationships or past obligations.

Family & New Beginnings Area (Gua 3)

Whether this storage holds family photos, hand-me-downs, or supplies for projects you'll "start someday," wood's challenge of inflexibility appears when we can't release what families passed down or beginnings we've outgrown. Consider: CLEAR one inherited item you're keeping from duty rather than appreciation, or one "new beginning" you're no longer beginning. ADD jade—its expansive properties encourage healthy growth and fresh starts. ORGANIZE what remains so it's accessible for actual use, not just preserved in darkness.

Health, Gratitude & Unity Center (Gua 5)

Central storage—pantries, hall closets, whatever falls in your home's center—affects your entire space's energy flow. Earth's strength of balance and centeredness becomes a challenge when clutter here creates stagnation everywhere. Consider: CLEAR pathways through central storage so energy circulates to all areas. ADD pyrite or citrine—their stabilizing properties support whole-home harmony and grounded gratitude. OBSERVE how central blockage might be affecting your entire home.

Children & Creativity Area (Gua 7)

If storage here contains art supplies, toys, craft materials, or even just overflow from other areas, metal's challenge of excessive boundary-setting can show up as keeping creative tools that intimidate rather than inspire. Metal's strength of precision asks: Does this support genuine creativity or aspirational guilt? Consider: CLEAR supplies that represent the creative person you wish you were rather than who you actually are. ADD moonstone or white topaz—their reflective properties help clarify what creative expressions truly belong to you. ORGANIZE so real creative impulses can flow.

Wisdom, Knowledge & Spirituality Area (Gua 8)

Earth's challenge of immovability appears when we cannot release what we "should" learn or become. Mountain energy's strength of manifestation works through solid, grounded choices. Consider: CLEAR one book, course, or spiritual tool you're keeping as a monument to aspirations. ADD smoky quartz or brown jasper—their grounding properties help you honor actual wisdom over aspirational learning. OBSERVE whether storage here represents genuine curiosity or should-based guilt.

Career & Life Journey Area (Gua 1)

This area often includes your entrance, so storage here might hold shoes, coats, bags, or seasonal items near your front door. Water's challenge of overwhelm and lack of boundaries manifests when we cannot release who we were professionally. Its strength of adaptability asks: Does this reflect my actual current path? Consider: CLEAR one item that represents a version of yourself you're no longer becoming. ADD lapis lazuli or aquamarine—their flowing properties support trusting your evolving path. ORGANIZE to honor your current journey, not past identities or future fantasies.

Helpful People & Travel Area (Gua 6)

The head male energy and metal's strength of discernment ask: Does this represent real resources or fantasies of help that never materializes? Metal's precision cuts away what doesn't serve. Consider: CLEAR one item you've been saving for "someday"—a future version of yourself that keeps not arriving. ADD clear quartz or selenite—their clarifying properties help you recognize genuine support. OBSERVE whether this storage represents actual resources or aspirational ideas of who you might become.

Not sure how to read your space according to this map? Click here.

CLOSING INSIGHT

The Israelites couldn't hoard manna in the wilderness—it spoiled overnight. For 40 years, they had to trust that provision would appear again tomorrow. Your storage spaces ask the same question: Can you release what you're gripping and trust what comes next?

Hope as Chi Flow:

• Stagnant chi = no hope (stuck, can't imagine change)

• Rushing chi = false hope (manic energy, unsustainable)

• Balanced chi = wilderness hope (flow, trust, presence)

  
  

When chi flows well in your home, you're practicing wilderness hope: things move through rather than being hoarded, energy circulates rather than being controlled, spaces adapt to needs rather than rigidifying, and beauty appears unexpectedly—divine provision in daily life.