Garden Alive: Feng Shui on the Path

My husband has completed the enormous project of cutting a path through our backyard hill as discussed in a past blog. As with many projects that have a purpose, it took on a life of its own. He listened to its flow and followed the energy to create a beautiful, meandering walk through a once unwalkable hill.

What the path accomplished for us is a definition of areas. Instead of one big hill to consider, we now have smaller garden plots that can be treated as a unit. One day as I was walking the path, I was inspired with an idea that will help define the areas even more, which is to give them specific names. We could name one of them after our cat Bodhi who typically sits in that part of the hill—the Bodhi Garden. Another area where years ago we placed a lawn ornament with the Chinese character for ch’i could be called The Ch’i Garden.

When incorporating Feng Shui in a home, I’m very specific about instructing people to use all the rooms in their home. If not, some part of the home and their lives will become stagnant. It has become blatantly obvious this same concept must be applied to the garden as well. If there are parts of your garden or yard you can’t get to or don’t access, something is going to be dormant in your own life.

Whether we stay with the suggested names is yet to be determined. Not only does the gardener himself have to determine their appropriate titles, but also the garden. Anyone who has walked the path comes away with a smile on their face and their spirits lifted. Something came alive when the path was uncovered, and it isn’t just us. Everyday I see our cats strolling on the new walkway. In fact, one day I found one of them actually sleeping on the path. Knowing how cats are so sensitive to energy, I have no doubt an energy has surfaced offering a fresh message from the land. I’ll bet the garden can offer up some great names—better than any we’d conjure up or imagine.

Rocking the Flow: Keeping Feng Shui in the Family

In recent days with the deaths of so many celebrities, I’m brought back to a question that has been nagging me for years. The question has to do with stuff----more specifically, who’s going to deal with my stuff after I’m gone. I presume this is critical for me because I have no children of my own who will take care of this issue. The thought of a stranger making decisions about my treasures doesn’t set well.

When my Mom passed away, she had reduced her life to one room. Clearing out most of her things had occurred in the years prior to her death, so that once she was gone the remainder of her clothes and furniture were disposed of in half a day. I always appreciated that about her. My sister, however, is still going through my niece’s extensive collections of stuff five years after she died

When my Dad’s mother passed away about fifty years ago he came back from her funeral in North Dakota with her rocker. She had rocked all eleven of her babies in that chair. My Dad refinished it and now I have it. I’ve treasured it with all my heart over the years, but I have often thought about what will happen to it when I’m no longer around to appreciate its beauty and its history.

A valid question could be why I’d care if I’m dead. But this isn’t about me, it’s about the rocker and where it belongs. My sister isn’t interested in it; my nephew doesn’t understand its meaning. So last summer when some cousins from North Dakota were visiting, I showed them the rocker. One of them remembered Grandma’s rocker that had been in her bedroom and always wondered where it went. Without thinking I offered it back to her. I knew it belonged back in a part of the family where there were generations who could keep Grandma’s memory alive. Although I loved this little rocker, the thought of it returning to where it started its life filled my heart. My cousin has kids and grandkids who, she assured me, would all be interested in the chair.

Because she was traveling by train last summer and couldn’t take the rocker with her, my sister and I will be delivering it to her in North Dakota this week. I’m very sad to let it go and will miss its sweet presence in our house, but I know this is right and I’m happy for its future. Its energy will be alive and well long after I’m not.

Opportunities are Knocking: Feng Shui at your Front Door

It is not unusual for me to go to a Feng Shui appointment and discover that the only way the client knows I’ve arrived is to bang my fists against their front door. There is either no doorbell for me to ring or the one that is there doesn’t work. Sometimes there’s a little note taped to the doorbell informing me that it is out of order. Or there may be a small piece of tape stuck over the doorbell to hint at its dysfunction.

Of course, our first order of business once I sit down with the client is to advise them to repair the doorbell. In Feng Shui the front door can be a beacon for opportunities and possibilities that may come into your life. The doorbell is like the “voice” of the front door and can assist in bringing in more money, or a new relationship, better health or a better job, depending on your intention. Having the voice silenced doesn’t help in bringing about positive changes.

Not only should the doorbell work but it should have a sound that you like. Having watched a client wince or another one jump when a doorbell went off during consultations, I am here to say

how important it is to be able to open the front door with anticipation and

excitement, not aggravation or fright.

If the doorbell doesn’t work, a door-knocker is an appropriate substitute. A door-harp can also replace a doorbell, providing gentle ringing tones when someone arrives. Installing a wind-chime near the door, low enough for someone to reach it, is another option.

So if you want to bring in some good energy, make sure your doorbell is pleasant sounding and works consistently. Opportunity may be ringing.

Uncovering a Path and Following Its Flow

Our house has been blessed with a steep little hill in the back. It’s a great Feng Shui asset, representing protection and support. Most Feng Shui people would love to have a hill like ours in the back of their house. That said, it is still a challenge to maneuver up the hill requiring someone to crawl around on hands and knees trying to plant anything. The hill extends into our next door neighbors’ yard and they have resorted to planting grass on the surface---an interesting sight when they try to use the lawn mower. My gardener husband has planted various shrubs and lilies, hydrangeas and phlox on the hill, but by mid-summer it’s overgrown with weeds because, of course, it’s nearly impossible to scale the hill to do any maintenance.

Somewhere in the not-too-distant past, my husband and I discussed terracing the hill to make it easier to get up there. We also tossed around an idea for a path that would take us to areas of the hill we had never been able to attain. We couldn’t ever figure out how either project would work, they each sounded like a humungous undertaking, and my husband quite honestly didn’t think he could pull it off.

For some reason, this spring things were different. One warm afternoon we stood at the base of the hill and in about 30 minutes’ time, we could see where a path should go. We crawled up the hill and let it open up in front of us, around some of the shrubs, in front of others, from one end of the garden to the other. Our excitement was unbounded!

The path is in progress as I write this. We have already blessed it with some Feng Shui energy. The excitement about it is that it seems to be guiding the project. Every now and then my husband will come in and say “Look what the path is doing now!” It’s better than we could ever have done ourselves. It has come together fluidly---I won’t say easily because I’ve watched the effort it takes to lug the stones up the hill. But there is a definite organic force behind it all.

Summer-Time Feng Shui for Parents

Feng Shui business does have a cyclic pattern to it---very busy in the fall, the first of the year, and spring. Over the holidays, everyone’s schedule gets busy and money may be more of an issue. I get fewer calls during the summer as well because the kids are home from school, people are traveling, doing yard-work, going up to a cabin somewhere. No time for Feng Shui.

However this is the exact time when some Feng Shui principles would be effective to help parents maintain their balance amid the frenzy that comes with extra activities and disrupted routines. Here are a few tips:

1. Parents should have a headboard. The headboard is a significant statement about feeling supported. It should be made out of wood with no opening or slats in order to maintain a symbolic message of continuous support.

2. Remove children’s photos from the bedroom. The parents’ bedroom is a private place for them. Photos of anyone other than the people who sleep in this room should be removed. This is a statement about setting boundaries and being able to say “no” when needed.

3. Keep some areas of the house off-limits to toys and games. When the kids take over the entire house with their play-things, it signifies that they have taken over in a bigger way. The “kid energy” should be contained to not only confirm boundaries but also to teach them responsibility.

4. Make sure the master bedroom is nurturing. This is the time for the parents to ask themselves if they like their bedroom. From deliberate color choices to usable and appropriate furniture, the bedroom should be the adults’ favorite room in the house.

5. Keep the kitchen table clear of clutter. Maintain an element of control over the chaos of summer-time by refusing to let clutter gather on the kitchen table. Since this is the area where the family eats together and talks to one another, it should be treated with respect.

Implementing one or two of these tips can help parents keep a handle on summer-time chaos. When routines seem to be non-existent, integrating a few Feng Shui ideas can create areas of firm stability.

Judge the Book By Its Cover: A Feng Shui Principle

A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of adorable, expensive shoes. Shoes which I immediately realized I’d only wear for special occasions, nevertheless they more or less leapt into my hands. I bought them despite the cost and despite the rare occasions when I would need such a pair. Since then, I have found a couple of instances when they have been the perfect solution to an otherwise dull outfit. When not in use, they are stored in the box in which I bought them, prominently placed on my closet shelf. (An image of these fabulous shoes is below)

However, I discovered a surprising added benefit to those shoes, which has not only added enormously to the value of the shoes but to the pleasure of owning them. It is the box itself. It is beautifully decorated inside and out, advertisement-free, and has carrying straps. The side of the box slides out to display those marvelous shoes. In fact, I realized I love just opening the box, whether I’m going to wear the shoes or not. I have the same experience putting them away. I nestle them in the tissue paper, slide the box parts together, carry it by the color-coordinated straps to the closet shelf. A veritable shoe ritual.

I had a similar experience when I bought an expensive cashmere sweater once that came wrapped in tissue and tied with a ribbon, then placed in a special hand-made paper bag that was sized just for the sweater and tied again with matching ribbon. I went through the ritual of tying and untying ribbons for months until the bag literally fell apart.

Along this same vein, my editor Dorie and I took enormous care in designing the covers of my two Feng Shui books. There is no truth in what is said about not judging a book by its cover. She and I were determined to let the judging start the moment someone picked up the book. Similar to how I feel taking the box of shoes out of the closet or the sweater bag out of the drawer, I wanted people to have the same sense of excitement and anticipation as they picked up one of my books.

If there ever was a Feng Shui argument for making your front door appealing, this has to be it. The story of what lies behind the door (or in the box or in the bag or behind the cover page) begins before the door opens. It is a great opportunity to hint at the magnificence that is about to happen, and, in doing so, the hint becomes part of the magnificence itself.

Summer-Time Feng Shui

If it hasn’t happened already, school will be out soon. For some parents this means kids hanging around the house all day, kids getting bored, kids needing to be entertained, chauffeured, and accommodated. Rather than let this be a time of turmoil and anxiety, this is a good opportunity to incorporate some Feng Shui. Without the constraints of a school schedule, both parents and children could appropriately mark the passage of time in the child’s life by making corresponding changes in their bedroom.

Here are some questions to get the ball rolling:
Is their bedroom still age-appropriate? Summer vacation is a great time to acknowledge a passage in the child’s life. In a few months they will be heading into another level of education, taking on more responsibilities, taking another step closer to leaving the nest. Do they still have ducks on the wall? Is their comforter still covered with the images of toy trucks? Perhaps it’s time to mature the room a bit to help the child mature.

Is their bedroom conducive to good study habits? It is a parent’s responsibility to provide their child with a place to lay their heads at night. It is a parent’s gift to their child to provide them with the means of getting a good education. This message can be transmitted by making sure there is a place to study or at least a spot where they can pile their books, their back-pack or school bag. Whether they study there or not is not as important as the message about the option they have. And perhaps they will indeed find it a comfortable spot in which to crack the books.

Do they like their room? Over the summer invite your child to discuss what they like or dislike about their room. It might be solved with something as simple as a coat of paint. Some things may never be able to be changed, but sometimes an extra dresser for storage, or a different color comforter on the bed could make all the difference.

By making positive changes in a child’s life in their own personal space, positive changes can also be forthcoming in their lives as they return to school in the fall, older and better supported.