I’m curious if you have any tips about hanging art. I’m downsizing to a smaller apartment, and I’m not sure where to hang my art or if I will have space for it all.

Thank you for your question! To answer the first part of your question, it’s generally a good idea to hang paintings and other art a little higher than you think you should. This is especially important if you have a tendency towards depression. When the art in your home is placed too low, it can depress your qi. Placing your art higher, as well as choosing light fixtures that point upwards, can lift your gaze which also helps to lift your qi. After six months of a pandemic, I think all of us can probably use an extra lift!

When it comes to the size of your space and whether you’ll have room to hang all the pieces you own, I’m reminded of one of my favorite books, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa. In the first chapter, he speaks about our tendency to collect. Some of our collections are internal: maybe you are always collecting new information, or learning about yet another spiritual modality. In this internet age, people often want to collect as much information as possible rather than really receiving and working with one thing. Because your home is a manifestation of what’s going on inside, how you collect things in your home may also indicate how you collect things in your life.

Chögyam Trungpa compares our collections to a shop. We may have started out with one beautiful item, but over time, our space becomes so full of things that it becomes more like a junk shop. Even if the individual items are beautiful, too many things placed in the same space can lead to chaos.

You may have beautiful artwork, but will you be able to enjoy its beauty if your walls are completely full of things to look at? When we have too many things, life becomes oppressive. Practices like meditation and feng shui are about focusing on one thing at a time, paying attention to the details, and simplifying. What if we chose to fully appreciate individual things in each moment, rather than feeling the need to bring them home and add to our collection?

I hope this gives you some inspiration as you decide which artwork to hang in your new apartment, as well as what else you choose to bring with you!

by Anjie Cho