Getting out of the box

A few lights seem to be coming on in the business world. The icon of great office furniture, Herman Miller, is starting to realize that the cubicle, a design pioneered by Miller, tends to isolate and objectify workers.   A small movement (may it grow and grow quickly) is happening, a movement to get a more natural relationship for people who work together. Tres Birds Workshop was commissioned to concept, design and build an art installation in Downtown Denver. The purpose? To encourage people get out of their offices for daily fresh air breaks. “We highly recommend it.  It’s wonderful to see that more people are realizing the more we make workers feel like they are filed in storage lockers, and then free them into collaborative relationships, the more we can create harmony and productivity.”  All the vegetation used in the installation was reused and/or recycled afterwards – including the furniture!

Another forward thinker is proudcing a movie “Three Walls” about just how wrong boxing people into cubicles is. You can watch a preview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4qMtBTeLs0

Where did Feng Shui orginate? Observing the ways of Nature. Hmmmm.

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!

Memorial Day – remembering What?

This Memorial Day, I invite you to widen your remembrances: from those who have given their lives in conflicts to the whole of Nature.  The more I study Feng Shui, the more I realize that real prosperity comes from such study. Nature in it’s essence is abundant. The ancient Chinese studied the way Nature moved through a space and then cooperated and synergized with it, learning the subtleties the natural world presented.  By cooperating and augmenting those energies, they increased the bounty of the people they helped.  It is no different today.  Finding what blocks the flow, what is antagonistic, what energies remain in a place all can be moderated, redirected, eradicated. So Monday, take a moment to look in your garden – notice how the weeds want to crowd your plants out.  Notice how some plants do not like to be around other plants. Others, given some attention, bloom more vigorously than if left alone.  All this is the Feng Shui of the natural world.  Be grateful, as the lessons continue to present themselves.  Happy Memorial Day!

Color Blindness

What a curious situation! – a story I did not understand for years.  Now I’m going to feature it in my next newsletter: The Curious Case of the Color Blind Feng Shui Master. How it came about and what reality is are two very different situations – incongruous to say the least.  If you’d like to follow along and are not a subscriber already, I recommend you click the link to the right and  subscribe. The issue will be published in early July.

The Role of Beauty

A client approached me to revitalize and change the energy and look of a dry cleaning establishment.  I did so and this location turned into the gold mine that kept the business afloat during the economic downturn.  The sad part is the owner started losing interest, wanting to move on,and in so doing started forgetting the details – the details not associated with dry cleaning.  People are now talking, and business is declining. He wants to sell, but the price he can get is decreasing as well.  I’m going to do a case study on this business in the June/July issue of the newsletter. God is in the details, and you’ll have graphic proof of how important those details are.

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.

Proud and Grateful

An excellent service for locating local service providers has started growing by leaps and bounds.  It’s called Thumbtack.com and it may well be in your area.  Check it out.  But why would I be pushing a thumbtack at you?  Simply because I signed up, and quickly accumulated 4 reccomendations from folks familiar with my work.  You can check that out at: http://www.thumbtack.com/or/ashland/feng-shui/effective-feng-shui-for-home-or-business This is not a quick and dirty service, they actually check you out. As you will see there’s a rather legnthy interview process which is also verified.  Since people tend to do business with people they know and trust, I appreciate the throughness of their approach.  Facebook has come up with it’s own –Stick (that’s right – Stick, could be Schick, but we won’t go there…), but then Stick wants to go into your address book and pull names and addresses out. No thank you!  In any event, if you do check this out, I’d enjoy your impressions. You might even want to add your own business.

Chinese New Year – The Year of the Rabbit

If you live in an area with a Chinese community, chances are they will be celebrating this weekend as the Year of the Rabbit takes over from the Year of the Tiger.  Try to attend these celebrations and observe that everything being done has some symbolic meaning.  These don’t always translate well into our Western culture, but they may help you understand the rich complexity of this ancient culture. And perhaps, in your own heart, welcome the Year of the Rabbit – it bodes well for those of us who align our spirit with the wonderful Rabbit.

Traditional Feng Shui objects

Recently a student of Feng Shui appeared at my door wanting to buy various Feng Shui objects.  He was disappointed that I did not carry these as a favor to my clients. But I find such things unnecessary to invoke the full effect of a powerful Feng Shui analysis and correction.  In fact,in my experience it is often more effective to use the Five Elements and their interactions for correcting unfavorable situations. Moreover, when done in good taste, the cures add to the beauty of both business and home.

Chinese restaurants are often decorated with all sorts of Feng Shui symbols, and that probably keeps the owners mindful to intend good fortune.  But it is not a requirement. Beauty calls forth it’s own favorable Feng Shui.  Play with it and see what results you get.

Ancient calendars and Feng Shui

The latest issue of my newsletter briefly speaks to the history of the calendar as we approach the Year of the Rabbit.  It’s fascinating that the ancient world, whether Western or Easters or Middle Eastern all seem to have a 12 month calendar.  As long as there have been women, this should not be surprising. Between a woman’s period and observations of the longest and shortest days, the year forms itself and divides very nicely.  But I did turn up on interesting fact which contradicts much of what has been discussed & wrtten about in the New Age movement for years.

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012.  What this implies has often been interpreted as ‘the end times’ or whatever.  Yet if one looks into Mayan mythology, one find that the date actually marks the beginning of a new cycle, not an ending.  The same is true in the Vedic tradition, as we are ending the cycle of  the Kali Yuga, The ending of that period is predicted to be very unpleasant, as the demon goddess Kali is is finally defeated and we enter a new Yuga, the Satya Yuga.

What does this have to do with Feng Shui? I hear you ask.  Quite simply, the effective use of Feng Shui to remove blocks to harmony and prosperity helps anyone/everyone get through the hard times we are witnessing.  And we’re just beginning! You might want to sign up for the newsletter just to keep one viewpoint in your pocket.