Category Archives: News

Lose 10 Pounds in one hour!

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If you thought – BS! You’re right – almost. This is a diet that’s not about not eating, Signature - 1nor incredible exercise (although it does involve an exercise!) and, true enough, it only takes one hour. I’m posting useful hints and short bits about starting to get rid of your excess stuff.  It is about losing weight – the cleaning, the storage $, the insurance to protect it, the stolen time justing thinking about where something is.

While I’ve run courses to help people lost their excess, I want to try now a slightly different tack.  I want to help you enjoy yourself as you’re down to what’s really important. So the link I’m giving you here is just a very small start. But the reward can be so enjoyable that you’ll want to follow along and do more -bit by bit. So check out the latest newsletter.

And do leave a comment!

The Possibilities and Limitations of Feng Shui

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As powerful and effective as Feng Shui can be, it is not a cure all. It’s important to know what this Key in bookancient art and science can do and what it cannot do. Some folks feel Feng Shui brings good luck.
If one’s fortunes change, I guess you could call that good luck.  That’s a bit too indefinite for me.  Others say the changes appear to be mystical. Yes, if by just moving furniture around, everything in the home goes better-it would appear to be mystical.

Anyone can move furniture around, but the energy of a place doesn’t always change -and sometimes not for the better!  Yet, properly applied, the changes can be profound. With Creative Visions I try to pass along simple techniques that can affect your harmony, your prosperity, your health and your relationships. Then there also comes a point where you need professional help, and that’s when a complementary conversation determines if my services can effectively make significant changes in your life.

Where is your belief? Would you care to make a comment?

Expanding Feng Shui – the good news!

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As I study Feng Shui, the tradition, rules, and guidelines that have come down to us in the West,  I have questions.  Sometimes trying to figure out how particular ‘cure’ should be applied. Sometimes the poetic nature of the base principle becomes downright confusing as how to use it. The entire scheme of Feng Shui is steeped in a culture most of us here in the west find foreign – we don’t have the context. The poetic way it is expressed doesn’t fit our love of specificity.

The wisdom of Feng Shui made me wonder, what was here in the West that could also be called  “feng shui”? Surely there had to be things that have been developed here that reflected the wisdom of the East but rooted in the West.

Our local paper, Sneak Preview, just published a notice that a Permaculture Design Course would be offered beginning in February. Many of the principles contained in Permaculture includes what a sustainable or regenerative lifestyle looks like.


This is NOT a Western middle class style. Permaculture incorporates what happens as climate change takes it’s toll.
At it’s base, Permaculture teaches how to synergize with Nature.

The article defines Permaculture at “a system of land use planning and a design protocol for creating human habitations that embody three ethical foundations: care of the Earth, care of people, and the reinvestment of surplus to support those ethics.” It’s basis is positive approach to see our place in nature – not as dominators and controllers – but as an intelligent contributing part.  If successful, is that not also the results of successful Feng Shui?

I’ve been invited to talk Saturday, Feb 27, at the Chinese New Year’s celebration in Jacksonville. I will tease out some of permaculture practices that I term Western Feng Shui and how we can use them now. I will demonstrate the interconnections between Fng Shui and Permaculture. Of course, many will say that Feng Shui is about the placement of items INSIDE the house. Originally it was used to site the grave sites of the ancestors. Hardly inside stuff! We can use it when siting a house, deciding whether or not to buy certain land, how to lay out an effective landscape. For those who feel Feng Shui is only for how to paint the wall and where to put the couch, I doubt that the talk will have any interest, but for others, I hope you will make it. The talk will be in the Old Jail in Jacksonville.

I will be giving two talks that day. You can make sure this will be a good use of your time if you will write me a note and tell me what you would like to know by attending. use <info@creative-visions.co> to send me what you’d like to take away.

The Impact of a Stand Desk

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In my November note, I said there would be a piece on my new stand desk. Why did I do it? Fad? Physics? Productivity? Let me take you on a short journey…

My old office arrangement, even when I had cleared most of the clutter still looked, well . . .S's office after 4x6 (copy)

–  – cluttered.

I had recently finished working with a couple who worked from home.  She had build a rigid standing desk and loved it. He was building one for himself.  They were both enthusiastic for them. They had many positive things to say about them.  I became curious.

I saw a Kickstarter campaign to build a reasonably price standing desk that could be both – a sitting desk and a standing one. The campaign was very convincing – lots of studies extolling the benefits of a standing desk.

Research was needed.  

[arrows style=”arrow-1-1.png” align=”left”]

Sitting is the new smoking.

What began as a curiosity has provoked a great deal of studious inquiry.  Results?

• Reduced risk of obesity

• Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic problems

• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

• Reduced risk for many kinds of cancer

Wow! And that’s just what the Smithsonian Magazine reported. (March 26, 2014)

Sitting six hours a day ups he death rate by 20% for men, 40% for women!

That’s scary while some other research says otherwise, but the consensus indicates we should be standing/walking at least 2 hours a day and then work up to 4.

OK – I got into the Kickstarter campaign and got my desk a couple of months ago.

I had to rearrange my office.

Time to declutter.

Pounds and pounds of files into the trash, Scan others.

4 file drawers to 2.

Fewer printers, fewer everything.

And the result?

StandDesk up sm

What a difference!  Take a look just at the top:

StandDesk down SM

No, I don’t stand all the time, but I’m standing more and more and sitting less and less. I find not only has the simplification made me more focused, but much more productive.  I love the top – it’s bamboo, my favorite building material.

You can jerry-rig a standing desk for yourself and try it. I like mine because I can take it up or down, and stop it any place that suites me or my arms or my chair (all at the touch of a button.) A programmer friend just bought himself one that uses counterweights to go up or down. He has a bit of a weight problem, so this is going to be good for him as well! And a major client I just worked with we designed his office so not only could he have a standing desk, but combine it with a treadmill!

If you want to see the one I bought, (also because I support new companies) go to

https://www.standdesk.co/

If you do try one, or have one, what about sharing? Post a comment. And I’ll stand for it!

Oh – Happy holidays too!

5 Keys to Effective Lighting

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It’s amazing how much light affects us, yet most people have little awareness about this important element. Surprisingly, light is not included as one of the 5 elements in Feng Shui, yet it’s affects on us can be just as significant as the other elements. So here are 5 tips to make light work for you.

daylight1) Try to get at least a half hour of real sunlight a day. If you can’t, take Vitamin D3.

2) Don’t place lights sources in back of you. Often kitchens and offices just have overhead lights and people stand at a surface casting a shadow on their work. Under-counter lights to correct this. The less you strain your eyes, the less likely your eyesight will diminish with age.

3) Visible light comes in a full color spectrum. Though most of us can’t recognize the different between a 2500K light source and a 5K source, it affects the colors we see and how we feel about them.  Many people say “use daylight, or full spectrum lights. That’s fine, but the light feels cold and impersonal. It can do the same thing to many colors, making warm color feel cold. We are used to a warmer light. So before you replace bulbs (anywhere!) go to a dealer who has a series flight boxes with the same photo in each. You’ll quickly see which one looks the best to you. That’s the amount of Kelvin you want to get. [Kelvin is the measurement of the light wave length.)

4) If you’re converting to LEDs you are being kind to the environment and using electricity wisely. But make sure you know what you’re getting. Ever notice some new cars have piercingly blue/white headlights? You don’t want that inside. Look for warm white LEDs for inside use.
Storefront5) Want to draw attention to something? Put lots of light on it. If you’re in business, you’d be surprised how that can bring people into a store. Likewise, if you want your party to be mellow and casual, keep the lighting soft.  Soft lighting

One fellow I know made his entire lucrative business lighting restaurants so that women look really good.  He laughed all the way to the bank while his cynics thought he was cracked. How and were you use light is more important than you think.

Want to solve a situation with light? Call Sugeet. He’s not only a Feng Shui expert, he also was an art gallery director for 12 years. Talk about lighting!

Want less frustration and anger?

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I’m amazed at how many readers admit to having clutter but clean it up and clear it out? Denial and procrastination come galloping forth. So today I find another’s  well written argument for clutter removal and revamping life. Join the conversation,

http://tinyurl.com/kejy4d3

let’s hear what you have to say.

THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN WON!

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It’s New Year’s Day and in my neighborhood. like the greater part of Ashland, Christmas decoration are being taken down. Those, of course, that were not removed the day after Christmas. So the politically correct forces can declare an open victory against the religious aspects of this holiday. Many folks got their lights and geegaws up right after Thanksgiving, in order to match Walmart and Target. The expansion of the Christmas buying season has trumped anyone who found Christmas to be the celebration of the birth of the Christian’s Son of God. Material acquisition has trumped inward reflection and gratitude.

The next target? Obviously, the only one left! Thanksgiving. Madison Ave has yet to figure out how to Sarah Palin Turkey 5commercialize the bird, however, Sarah Palin did a pretty good job on it not so long ago. It’s interesting to note that neither the Jewish High Holy Days, nor those venerated by  Buddhists have fallen to the venal appetites of those who have elevated Money above Existence, Spirit, God or whatever such a power means. Does anyone see any human arrogance is such a path? What does it have to do with Nature and the real world? Not much , if anything, from this man’s point of view.

2014 is The Year of the Horse – and Chinese astrologers suggest we can expect Mother nature to step up larger and more dramatically as we keep climate change under wraps and in denial. Gaia is pissed off. Oh well, time for the Koch brothers to sell more Coors!

Our Lives are flooded

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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’

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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.

Losing weight – more than just pounds

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As you may have noticed, I’m starting to refocus Creative Visions on a problem this society has BIG TIME: too much stuff. It comes in so many forms besides the physical . And what it’s doing is dragging our lives down. It stymies creativity. It causes unnecessary stress. It clogs up the gears of good relationships. And it costs us dearly financially.

OK, so what’s the answer? Obviously to see how to make out lives cleaner, smoother, more creative. And I’m passing along tips on my Facebook page [not what I had for dinner last night!] Things like how to get a better night’s sleep. A technique for gradually reducing the physical clutter that gather in almost all of our homes. Stop by www.Facebook.com/CreativeVisionsAshland and give me a like. I will not clog up your email with more useless garbage, just tips and tricks for you to use to make your life better. You’ll also be among the first to learn about my upcoming free webinar to help you get started.