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!

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.

Our Lives are flooded

We’re flooded, and I don’t mean Louisiana! As I prepare for a multimedia presentation at the Ashland Coop, Monday, September 17, I become overwhelmed at the multiple facets of what’s weighing us down! It is simply too broad to try and cover in an hour, to show a way out. Anyone with a storage unit knows they have more stuff than fits in their living space. and that’s just the tip top of an iceberg of gargantuan size. My newsletter, coming out this week, takes on one area that is counterproductive – that of garage sales. If you don’t already have a subscription, I hope you click on the box to the right and subscribe. If you’re in the Rogue Valley, I hope you will attend the co-op talk. This is a huge subject. It’s a worthwhile undertaking. I say let’s get our lives back, get out from under, actually reclaim our lives. I hope you’ll join me.

As you get rid of ‘Stuff’

One of the great advantages of clearing out the excess in our lives is we begin to see how we could be living more lightly on the planet. We start to see that our values change and our lifestyle changes.  I have friends that decided to move their family (3some) to Baja California and live in a popup camper for 6 months. Gabriella wrote a wonderful blog about that time. Returning their life to the States has taken another couple of turns, but she made this post which I think is valuable reading when considering how your life could change.

A Diet for Email

Recently I have begun to realize that I spend far too much time going through my inbox. To be sure, 500 unread’s is not manageable, much less 1000. In an effort not only to simplify, but to allow me not to be overwhelmed on a daily basis, I had to put my email on a very strict diet. This is no easy task, as many of the lists I’m subscribed to are invaluable – or at least so I think. So once a day, I have to unsubscribe from a list, or tell a friend to take me off their distribution. If you have this problem, I’d like to hear how you handle the flood of email.

Animal Feng Shui

Some years back I did a newsletter about pets and Feng Shui. All of a sudden, it’s a major blitz on the International Feng Shui newsletter!  Only confirming what I realized quite some time back. BUT, rather than stroking my ego, I wanted to say this next issue is going to be about the Feng Shui of animals. Fo instance, my alpha cat Bhodi does Reike and there’s a story around that. If you have a story about your animal that includes how well they read energies, I’d like to get it. I will include them in the newsletter (depending on how many show up!).  Please send them to me just by clicking here.

More Freedom! More Life! More Joy!

The latest group of friends who took the plunge and started getting a real handle on their over crowded lives. We met for the last time yesterday. Two could not be there due to personal emergencies, but I think you can tell from the expressions the class was a success. Soon I will announce a new class, RECLAIM YOUR LIFE, where we will come to understand why we gather too much and how to be permanently rid of that little barnacle that costs money, time, health and happiness. Stay tuned! If you’d like to be in on it, let me know and whether you’d enjoy a teleclass (if you’re out of the Rogue Valley.) If you have questions, contact me at info@Creative-Visions.co

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.

Have to sell? Want to sell?

Important Points to remember: Boost the curb appeal by fresh paint, flowers (no matter the season) and a GREAT front entrance. Doesn’t need to be overly grand, understated elegance is best. Not sure how to get there? That’s what I’m for! 84% of buyers use the the Internet to shop initially. Obviously a house the invites from the street is likely to get many more visits.

If you budget allows it, invest in bigger things. Kitchen and Bathroom are first. 59% of buyers have remodeled within the first 3 months of ownership. 47% did the kitchen, 43% attacked the bathroom. So these two can be make or break rooms for the sale.