West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick

Feng Shui and Children's Future

Some days are calm while others are hectic. Calls must be made to the bank, your children's school, the insurance company you forgot to pay, and during tax time you might to have to talk to many more people than you want to!!! But life does go on and tax time finally becomes a past issue, and you owe yourself a time out. A time to ponder and reflect or what is going on in your life and what is the progress of your time spent on the planet.

My personnel life has been a whirlwind of events since the beginning of 2004. Change was in the air, as my husband began to talk retirement, and I knew from past experience I had better start packing if I wanted to be on "the wagon train" heading west, or northwest in our case. Transition was in the air and it was time to leave one space and fill another.

Other changes were occurring within the family which would include three more mouths to feed, little ones running throughout the house, school schedules, busses and PTA, bedtime curfew, spelling, reading and Sponge Bob Squarepants, not necessarily in that order. Balance and Harmony became a key phrase in our household. Warnings of harmony going amuck might first be defused by a stolen hug and kiss to calm the mood of the perpetrator, then if that action didn't detract the violator, other steps were taken to bring Balance into the Environment.

There is a time to let go and let God, as they say, and that is what my plan was during this season in my life. Children are to be loved and listened to and that was my goal for the next seven months. My grandchildren began to argue over whose turn it was to wash dishes and what silverware to set the table with as I let them loose to create. We found two footstools, one short and one tall to accommodate little people at the kitchen counter for fun cooking and chores. I found that five and three year olds are much more capable than believed, and the children began to learn their phone number, address and what ingredients it took to make cornbread, how to snap green beans, make Jell-O and what composting was all about. They became part of the family team machine!

When the grandkids came to live with us, I had forgotten how their little minds soak up every sound, movement, and feeling of the environment. Their boundaries have not yet been established as they welcome anyone who shows them attention, which can be positive or negative. As a grandparent, I find myself a lot more flexible than I was with my own children. So the plate breaks, so the liquid is spilled, so the clothes get dirty right before a special appearance. Who cares - we are only here on this earth briefly, all of those things just don't matter!

During daily living I would hear other family members correcting and scolding the children, as many times they deserved, where I chose to let many things work themselves out. Patience it is called, but when I raised my voice, EVERYONE turned to hear the roaring lion. My husband gives me that look of "have you gone crazy?" Yes, crazy is a good word to describe Action or the Fire Element. Saving this Fire for putting your foot down is a good thing.

Feng Shui adjustments and enhancements were put into place before the children came, which gave comfort to the little ones. I chose a bedroom located in the Family and Health sector of the house. This Wood Element area of life is located in the middle left side of any dwelling according to the Bagua, or eight-sided octagonal shaped template placed over a floor plan of the house, business, plot of land or property to locate the entry of the Chi, or energy source, nurturing your living and working space.

Placing pictures of forest scenes I had painted when the children were born on the wall "held the energy" of the green growth of family. Yellow sheets covered the beds to promote better health, while bedspreads were found in light blue-green, and a coverlet created with stripes of green and yellow. Stuffed toys covered the beds; a calendar for school events hung next to the beds, a poster of the alphabet graced another wall suggested by the kindergarten teacher, so upon awakening the children could visualize the letters. Visualization is a great learning tool for any age. Two desks with green lights were added by Grandpa, and the room was ready to bring a secure feeling to grow like a tree in the woods. A quick tip for young parents; keep the wild colored toys and bright colors to a minimum for rested minds.

Now the hard part is over as they have moved into their own home. Things have slowed down, and I'm grateful for the quiet, at least for a while, as the kids are only a six-minute ferry ride away. I see then almost daily when going to my office on the mainland. I miss the evenings when everyone snuggled together on the couch reading or making up stories in the dark while looking over the bay at the ships sneaking into the harbor. We still take walks around the large property in the woods, watching bugs and frogs jump across our pathway discussing important topics, such as missing the school bus or a friend losing his backpack, or maybe Sparky, the local sea gull, wasn't on guard at the ferry dock today.

Issues in a child's life must be treated with reverence and respect, for they are the future of this nation and the world. I'm concerned with the emotional well being of our children as they are forced to live in an unnatural environment of divorce, drugs, "my rights, your rights and his rights." Let's get back to our children's rights to have a childhood of wonderment, joy and creativity. Take time to love your little ones, stop buying them every toy in every store for your temporary conveniences. Make fast food a treat. Take time to cook a meal and teach them family togetherness.

Use Feng Shui as a tool for your home, food choice, body health and clothing choices in the form of color, shape and design. Start by getting rid of all the excess in your home, 9 or 27 things per day. The number 9 is a transition number of abundance. Let go of old ideas and things, and then concentrate on the strength of family to secure a base of stability.

Career profile for Caroline Patrick, author of THE POWER OF FENG SHUI ARTWORK IN THE HOME AND BUSINESS

Caroline Patrick has conducted over 2500 Feng Shui consultations and has documented many of these experiences in her weekly newspaper column titled WEST MEETS EAST, which has been a highly popular addition to the Benicia Herald’s newspaper each Wednesday for the last six years. Teaching is her passion and for the last 35 years Caroline’s range of subjects has included art, herbs and Feng Shui. Her classes and workshops fill with eager students learning ancient ideas in a modern format.

Her past and present teaching experiences include Cochise, Pima, Arizona Central, Solano and Skagit Valley Colleges in Arizona and California and Washington State. Santa Clara County Teachers Council Conventions, AMA Continental Congress Convention of Surgeons, and Medical Research Facilities have asked her educate their employees and spouses, and Feng Shui their facilities. She has appeared on television and radio.

Business owner of Caroline’s Arts and Feng Shui Shoppe in the San Francisco Bay Area for eight years, Feng Shui Practitioner, speaker, teacher, writer and author, Caroline has recently relocated to the Northwestern U.S. and lives on an island in the San Juans. Her current consultation business is called Caroline’s Feng Shui Concepts.

Caroline can be reached at: