|
November 2008
Not many people are truly unaffected by what's going on in our world today, events that no one ever experienced before. We're living in a different energy right now, and it doesn't feel good. If you read the newspaper, browse the internet or listen to the radio, you hear much about doom and gloom. It's human nature to go into fear and anxiety when we hear these things, especially if your account balances have gone down – and whose haven't?
From a feng shui perspective, money is energy and has no intrinsic value or power, only what we give to it. The energy that has been building up to this "fall" is greed. Humans have given power to money, and this consciousness has grown like a balloon that has now burst. The new energy growing as a result of this "popped balloon" will be unlike anything we've experienced.
We're going through the chaos that is necessary to bring about any kind of change. You can't go from one way of being to another with some form of restructuring, and this can feel chaotic (remember going from a child to adulthood?). The best thing to do is to go with the flow of the chaos as much as you can. Try to see the bigger picture in all of it, that this is a necessary step toward a more peaceful and balanced way of life. Humans have always grown stronger through adversity; successful people write books about how they crawled out of the sewer!
It's important to stay away from thoughts of fear and hold the vision that it is all working out in perfect order (even though you may not see it as that right now!). Remember, what you think about comes about, so it's important to continuously reach for the good thoughts. Focus on those things you are thankful for, there are many – it's "good feng shui"!
October 2008
Confucius blessed his people with the words, "May you live in interesting times." I think these are the most interesting times we've ever experienced. Emotions are running high and the country is getting energized on a level we haven't seen since the world wars.
Emotion is a very powerful energy, a tool we use to express ourselves.It is an outward expression of our inner feelings. The challenge is to match what we feel inside with what we put out for others to hear. If we feel one way inside and mask it as we relate to others, this becomes distorted energy and the result is miscommunication.
We were given messages as we grew up: Big boys don't cry, good girls don't get angry, and others that have done damage to our ways of communicating effectively with others as adults. In feng shui, energy needs to flow and be expressed freely and without filters. This doesn't mean that we are allowed to fly off the handle when we're angry, but it does mean that it's important to find an appropriate outlet for that anger, or to express that sadness when it arises. To withhold this energy results in "clutter" inside our minds; it then shows up in the form of clutter in our surroundings.
Heart-based communication is the answer. Have you ever had someone tell you something that should have been difficult to hear but it was expressed so beautifully that you accepted it? The reason is because that person expressed their feelings from their heart. Mind-based emotions are expressed as "I think" and heart-based emotions come out as "I feel". Practice expressing an emotion in these different ways; you'll be able to tell the difference immediately, because only one is a match to how you feel inside.Try it – its "good feng shui"!
September 2008
How time flies! Summer is coming to a close; it's time for harvesting and gathering those things that we have planted in our gardens, both outer and inner. Farmers' markets offer heaps of fresh fruits and vegetables, and we have the opportunity to eat locally grown food, just-picked and full of energy. Even small garden plots are planted so that the harvest can be shared with others. It is a simple and natural way to realize community.
This is the time of year when we begin to gather together again, as a family and community. School is back in session and vacations have been enjoyed over the summer so that we can concentrate on work again. This can also be a time to "glean" the best of what we've learned so far this year. Spring was for planting ideas, summer for seeing them grow into full bloom, and fall is the time to "pick" through all of that and save what is important. What have you created that you'd like to harvest? Take a look at your life and feel the bounty of it, even if it may be small. If you've taken care to water and weed your "garden" over the summer, you might even have something to share.
In feng shui, summer is a time of expression, using the symbol of fire. It is an outward and upward energy, full of life and vitality. Then fall begins to turn the fire inward, to gather around the fires of home and family, sharing the harvest. We begin to slow down a bit, to take an inventory of sorts. In a way, we're already beginning to prepare for spring, because we "save the seeds" or keep the best of what we've learned so far in order to use it again in the spring. The cycle does not end; it just keeps spiraling and growing into new ways of being. So, enjoy your harvest – it's "good feng shui"!
|
