How important is your front door?

If your home is considered as a body, the front door is the mouth. The chi (energy) comes in through the door and fills your home.  If you want to help insure that positive energy comes in, pay attention to what Feng Shui has to say!

Someone is approaching your front door. It is dull, perhaps cluttered, not terribly attractive.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat mood gets conveyed to the approaching visitor? Nothing very positive, nothing very welcoming. When you open your door, you are greeted with, at best mild positive to negative and angry. You’ll have to deal with that.

But let’s change the picture. You stand at the end of the walk and visualize what would lift your spirits, make you want to come into the home? Flowers? A wonderful, colorful door, outlined by a trim that sets of the color of the rest of the house?  A welcome matt in good condition, and a pleasing door knocker or a wreath reflecting the season.

Laura@mainelynautical.com

Laura@mainelynautical.com

Someone approaching your home now is greeted by a home that welcomes and invites. Without their knowing it, their mood has been positively affected by the energy of your home. You brighten and lighten their mood without even saying hello.  Is it important? Could it make your life easier and more positive? Yes. Take a critical look at your entrance and make it as wonderful as you can. It will be well worth it.

Oh – you come in through the garage? Use the front door at least once a day. Don’t close the mouth of chi just because you car is more important than your home and the people who come to it!

Got Clutter? Who doesn’t!

Recently I launched a couple of free trainings about our conscious and unconscious accumulation of physical and psychological stuff. L have been working with the first step to creating positive, healthful chi by helping people rid themselves of clutter.

Technical glitches and perhaps a poor choice of timing prevented me from reaching many people. Maybe I had not clearly said why I am doing this and with whom I really want to work.

The Why

The world has become fast food, rushed, instant gratification expectant, having more stuff of less value, polarized. There’s little time to consider where we want to go, and less time to think about how to get there. We’re so busy we don’t often know where we are headed. It is a dangerous course to be on. I see few signs of any correction.  I’m convinced solutions will not come from above. If we want a sustainable future (which apparently the majority are not concerned about) each of us is going to have to do our part. Whatever that part might be.

Being sick and tired of my own passivity, I see Rome starting to burn. I spent years in an ashram where women ran the operation top to bottom. My Master would not allow men to run things – he knew far to well what men would do from our male dominated past. I learned something there – something important.

Here goes my rant.

In the “normal” world, we are caught in a patriarchal society where big is better; war is good for profiteering; corporations are people. This sets off alarms in me big time.  In my book it’s time to let women into the game in a real, substantial way.  Women don’t think war is good for business. Women don’t think the highest goal is the accumulation of money. At least, none of the women I know. Having been mothers, women know things men barely fathom.

But women are caught. Women who are breaking the glass ceiling too often are wearing suits, acting as if a man were running things. Even though they are playing by men’s rules,  they are still often subtly shut out – of the golf games where things get done – of the hunting trips (where they can get drunk and blast their friends in the face…) Alarm bells are going off.

What if each woman could see what her gift is for the world? What if she knew her powers sourced from the Divine Feminine? Could we then change the world before we go over the cliff? I think we have the possibility of a better chance through embracing the Divine Feminine than continuing on our currently imbalanced road.

Am I advocating women should rush the halls of power and seize control? Not really.  Many women I’ve met, having tried the corporate vision of success or not, are aware that that is not their God-given perspective or destiny. Small businesses they know. Services they get. Creating networks they understand.

Who are the women I resonate with? They are bright and interested in co-creating. They don’t have to have it all themselves. I’ve been able to do this wonderful dance where my wisdom meets theirs and beautiful things happen: like clarity; like emerging purpose; like apparent magic.

I want to reach more of those women. But rather than touting some big transformational course or gathering, I want to start with something simple that so many bright women can benefit from:

Knowing what is clutter and what is not.

Knowing how clutter holds a woman down and prevents her from becoming all she can be.

Knowing that the trap of unfettered capitalism has produced a suicide economy.

Not all clutter is of our own making. We are continuously bombarded by advertising on our televisions while we’re trying to relax, on the radios we listen to while driving, popping up on our computers when we log onto our favorite sites, in our email boxes – even with our spam filters. Madison Avenue has convinced too many that if we just buy this or that we will find fulfillment.  If we just take this new expensive pharmaceutical, we will solve any physical, mental or emotional problem.

How much advertising is directed at women? Most of it is because women do most of the buying in this country (60-80% depending on the source). That, interestingly enough, includes buying men’s clothes. Yet most advertising campaigns are created and directed by men. If that isn’t manipulation, what is?

Women bond and socialize differently than men. There’s a hard wiring that comes with the female that is different than that of the male. One of the most import aspects of that difference is that women share and collaborate easily. Therein lies an immense power.

The power of the group.

Alcoholics Anonymous has demonstrated the power of the group for almost 80 years. Whereas medical science has never has found a cure for alcoholism, AA has generated thousands of sober, responsible people who no long use alcohol. It’s done with 12 suggested guidelines and the power of a commonly held intention: not to take a drink today.  Simple, yet utterly profound. More powerful than all of the “miracles” of modern medicine.

The What

I’m going to start a series of telephone conference calls – fun and easy.  Each one will examine one aspect of clutter and how one might eliminate it. The call will include input from participants sharing their personal experiences and what they have observed about the way clutter holds them back.

The call will close with my take on how Feng Shui plays into each aspect, and how we can use this ancient art and science to transform an environment.

Sound too simplistic? Perhaps. But the journey of a thousand miles begins putting one foot in front of the other. The benefits of Walking the Camino aren’t accessible to those speeding by in a Ferrari. It’s a beginning.

From years of teaching I’ve learned a great way to create a new freedom, a new clarity. And it comes, paradoxically enough, by getting rid of stuff.

And the cost?

Nothing. Free. You call, listen, and participate – either anonymously or as a named participant (your choice.)

There will be replays available for a very limited period of time. I know perfectly well not everyone who would like to be on the call can make every one. Busy life. But one caveat – just listening to a replay, while valuable, doesn’t have the power, the positive effect, nor the support that live participation has.

Commonly held intention combined with focused interaction equals amazing change. Freedom. Creativity. Clarity.

I will also have guests join me to add their wisdom and their experience. Women like my friend Aline Munsch who’s working in Saudi Arabia and quietly showing women how to realize their power. and there are others, perhaps not as dramatic, but equally qualified to share their wisdom.

I’d really like to hear your reactions and suggestions about this series of live calls before I finalize how and when.

On What’s Happening you’ll find a note that will put you on the list of get weekly notificationsof the dial in number and the day and the topic.Please do not worry about your contact information – it’s kept lovingly under secure encryption and never rented, sold or shared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Push Declutter so much?

Why do I keep talking about reducing/decluttering (however you want to call it)?  It’s simple: one big reason is we are in an avalanche of new knowledge.  If you want to understand just how big that avalanche is, take 5 minutes to watch the video at http://tinyurl.com/bhcjkco. Your comments are welcome.

Unusual Beauty/Changeable Chi

It’s strange to me how we, mostly in the West, cannot appreciate what Nature does without our help. This fall, particularly here in the Northwest, has been especially color rich. Such glorious combinations speak of positive chi, but chi of a different nature. Fall is a time of transition with a glorious procession of events: first the leaves put on their spectacular show and then they reverse place – from on the tree to on the ground.  They present us with another incredibly wonderful picture of beauty, HOWEVER We then get out the rake or blower and get all those pesky leaves out of sight. How bizarre!   Now there is another beauty – and more chi. Were we sensitive to what nature has to tell us, this is a time to take another look at our life, to quiet ourselves and to go inside. I suggest we can learn much by paying attention of the every changing chi in the progression of the seasons.  Remember, I Ching says everything is always in a state of constant change. [And Feng Shui developed from the principles contained in the I Ching.] Let that change in and let you life be filled with the richness of the colors of fall.

Lighting as a Tool

In the midst of the dark days of winter, you become intimately aware of how light affects mood and disposition. In Feng Shui, different qualities, color, and intensity can be used for specific effect. You know this when a candlelit dinner suggests romance and a dank, dark day suggests crawling into bed with a good book. Using lots of bright light can enliven a party, whereas bright fluorescent lighting can make you want to escape. Some people are actually nauseated by the wrong fourescent bulbs. What’s to learn from this? When buying a lamp, or reducing your electric use by using compact fluorescent bulbs, pay attention to the Kelvin rating of the bulb you want to use. [Kelvin is the temperature of the light ranging from cold to warm.] A good lighting store will have boxes where the same photograph is lit with different lamps. Find the one that you resonate with and use that. All of us are different and respond differently, but it’s worth the time and effort if you’re going to enjoy your home or business, rather than finding yourself in a poor mood.

A gift Giving Thanks

At a time when the corporate world wants to move us away from giving thanks to buying material things for “gifts”,  a friend sent me this. View it full screen. It is a gift and reminds me of just how precious this existence is. http://bit.ly/sXC0rU

Keep it Clear!

Summer is the time we trip in and out of the house: back door, front door, any door – shed the shoes, drop the gear, set the garbage for taking out.  The problem with this style of living is we are dropping boulders in the stream of chi. The front door is the mouth of chi for the house, but any entrance allows chi in and back out. The more clutter you have at any entrance to the house, the more you block favorable energy from coming in.

The solution: keep entrances free from clutter and pleasing to the eye. This may require developing a new habit.  Not only for you, but the entire family.  And old habits are hard to break, but if you keep a compassionate reminder for your partner/for your kids, you can allow everyone to slowly adopt new behavior patterns — ones that allow for the free flow of positive energy to come home and enhance your life.  Be brave! Go for it! And if you run into problems, remember you can always drop me a line asking for a bit of coaching info@creativevisionscv.com. Blessings!

A film festival and Feng Shui

What could a film festival have to do with Feng Shui?  Well, where I live (Ashland, OR) the Festival is about independent films tending to focus heavily on documentaries. Documentaries are usually about things out of balance (think Sicko or Supersize Me!)  It gets a bit depressing when you start to realize how very very out of balance this society is, and the possible consequences we are inviting unless correcting steps are taken.  Feng Shui is about bringing things into balance.  And while I would never pretend that a Feng Shui practitioner could bring many of these larger issues into balance, it just shows me the importance of having one’s home, one’s family, one’s relationship in balance.  Without that?  Let the craziness take over.  Not good! And not necessary.  Do what you can, and what you can’t do, engage the best Fen Shui master you know.

Needing to Sell?

Here in the Rogue Valley, tradition has it that all you have to do is put your house on the market and somebody, sometime, will buy it.  And, until a couple of years ago, that was true enough…sometime.  Then something happened and we now have at 18month-2year supply.  And still folks don’t think what a good Feng Shui analysis can do to let their home stand out from the crowd.

Problem often is owners have an emotional attachment to their home.  Realtors want to keep on good terms with the owners so they tend to go alone with that attachment. Well, it isn’t Kansas anymore Dorothy, and folks would be wise to contact their consultant and ask for help. We bring an unbiased view tilted toward balancing the energy of the house and making it feel as nourishing as possible. The longer a potential buyer stays in the home, the more likely the owner is to get an offer, and these days, that’s important!

Disaster Feng Shui

We are just beginning to learn and are going to continue to learn that the DeepWater Horizon oil is apocalyptic.  And while we let out yowls of protest, do not foget that it is you and I who demand gas for our cars and plastic for everything else.  It all comes from oil. As long as there is demand, there will be companies ready to go to any  length to get it and let us pay for it.  It took Eastern Masters hundreds of years observing the way nature moves energy to come up with the principles of Feng Shui. And because those principles work, Feng Shui is used widely with great positive effect.

Now we have an oil giant who skipped over the most basic safety precedes to drill for oil a mile under the water. It had not been done before and was based largely on theory. No observation of what might go wrong or what the consequences might be if anything did go wrong. We have already killed most of the world’s coral reefs (one of the foundations of the food chain) and now the results of BP spill threaten the entire sea and all it’s life.  It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.  And this is no Shui to go! And unless we lemmings slow down our mad dash, what awaits us is more of the same.