Are you drawn to houses from a specific era? This story illustrates why some time periods may be more attractive to us than others.

My client recently moved from her dream home in the mountains to a suburban home outside of Denver in order to experience a greater sense of community. She chose a house that had been built in the 1950’s, and that held the energy of surface friendliness, combined with structure and rules. This era and energy are familiar to my client; she grew up in a house that was built the same year as the one that she had just purchased. My client (unconsciously) felt that she had to choose between the isolation and freedom that she experienced in the mountains, and the community and rules of her childhood. Of course, she is seeking to establish a new combination: community and freedom!

The energetic-level agreement in my client’s neighborhood is to keep the 50s-style atmosphere alive. Her neighbors have been over to introduce themselves and to welcome her to the neighborhood. Indeed, community spirit lives in this neighborhood! However, the ‘shoulds’ and ‘have tos’ are thick as well. This environment offers a sense of comfort and stability that comes at the price of personal expression.

My client, wanting to fit into her new neighborhood, successfully matches the norms. She is so steeped in the protocol of the time period held by the house and the neighborhood that she unwittingly arranges her home to please others, rather than organizing it to suit her needs.

I am reminded of the movie “Pleasantville” in which two contemporary teens from a single-parent household wish to return to the more structured times of the 1950s. Once they get their wish, they uncover the many drawbacks of that era, and inadvertently—just by being themselves—begin to bring new ideas and attitudes to the time, forever changing it.

Having tasted the freedom of living in the mountains, my client quickly realizes the trap into which she has fallen. As we shift the energy in the house to reflect her present-time vibration, she begins to question, for example, whether she really wants to devote her second bedroom to a guest bedroom that will be used only occasionally. Maybe she would rather use that room as a creative space, and let her guests sleep downstairs.

This house is her opportunity to heal the feeling or belief that she cannot have community and friendship while maintaining her freedom. As she expresses herself within her new house and her new neighborhood, she simultaneously escapes the confines of her childhood. And, as happens in “Pleasantville”, she provides the people in the community with permission to act more truly as well. What a gift!

Notice what kinds of houses and neighborhoods call your name. After providing this house healing, I recognize that I, too, spent 25 years in a home that is built the same year as is my childhood house.

Written by Heidi Szycher, a staff member at the Boulder Psychic Institute. Check out her personal site at healings.biz.