West Meets East©

Creative Cuts Make Room for New Ideas

I feel like a makeover, do you? How do we start? First, decide what type of makeover you would like. Next, make a quick sketch of your current home. Draw the street, shape of the lot and then a likeness of the house. Don’t stress over the drawing, it is just a simple scribble to find where the makeover needs to start. Your home takes on the qualities of the people living in the house, and sometimes the lingering ideas and energy of the previous owners. When we become tired, angry, sick and lifeless, the house has become tired, sick and lifeless also.

Now look at the overall floor plan. What rooms need extra attention and a touch of loving care? What bugs you the most about this room or rooms? Does the floor need to be replaced, is the plumbing leaking, and is there enough lighting in the space? Do you hate the color of the walls or curtains, or do you want to bury the picture sweet Aunt Hilda or Uncle Harry painted in their latest crafts class? Has too much furniture given the appearance that the home has little square footage?

As an experiment, consider for a moment that “we” are the house. Our head is the front door; our organs are in the center; our hips and feet are at the back of the house; and our arms, hands and fingers stretch out to the front right and left rooms of the home. Using this stick man idea, we can zoom in and take a look at the Health of the dwelling. Similar to a Chinese Medicine diagram Chart of the body, you can see how the house reflects our health issues when the chart is overlaid upon the floor plan.

Crazy idea? That’s what I thought when I first tried this method for locating clues to why the home and its occupants were out of balance! Now, think of the hallways being the arteries, the electrical representing the nerves and the plumbing as the kidneys. Ask yourself, “If these are reflections of the body, they must need room to function. I should make some creative cuts.”

Take a look around you. Can you walk across the room without running into coffee tables? Are you tripping over wires on the way to the bathroom? Does the kitchen smell? Where is the litter box? There is a better place than the kitchen! Is there standing water under your house? Are all your lights shining straight up into the air, or does your child have a cozy quiet spot with a downward concentrated light to raise his/her grades with high-energy Chi?

Creative cuts are the best way to transform your home into a balanced environment. Delete, delete, delete… Get those trash bags out and fill them with the excess, clean up your computer, get rid of old addresses to leave room for new friends and Helpful People. Send old furniture to a thrift shop. I would rather have a vacant area in my house than to have furniture blocking a door, which happens in many rooms. Blocking a door can block the voice of an adult in the home. The doors are considered the adults in the house while the windows reflect the children living in the home. Take inventory and correct your home sooner than later! Don't forget the yard and gardens surrounding the house as they are just as important to the "health" of the dwelling.

Now that I have awakened you to new possibilities that good Feng Shui can create, be sure to make those necessary changes, allowing business and home life to improve today.

Join us for a lifetime experience in China with James Jay, September 21, 2009. The tour is filling up quickly! Email me at caroline@fengshuiartistry.com for details!

Caroline lives in the Northwest Region of the US, called the Puget Sound in Washington State and is an experienced Feng Shui Practitioner, writer, author and artist. She gives workshops in Feng Shui, Elements of Art, private mentoring for serious student, lectures, does book illustrations, art demonstrations for Daniel Smiths Art Supplies and writes a weekly newspaper column for the Benicia Herald in California and other publications. Call (360) 424-1501 for her availability for speaking, teaching and consultations in the U.S. and abroad, or email caroline@fengshuiartistry.com. Visit her websites: www.fengshuiartistry.com to view her special Feng Shui artwork designed especially for cures and corrections and enhancements of the 5 Elements (some for sale) and www.moongateschool.com for West Meets East archives.

Please consult your physician for physical problems as this article only gives ideas and suggestions. Caroline is not responsible for anyone using these suggested plants or advice for cures or healing any problem either medical or Feng Shui claims. This column and article is for entertainment only. Please seek help from a qualified physician, naturopath, herbalist or other certified person for treatment.

Note: Caroline Patrick BorNei (pronounced Bornay) is Caroline's Chinese name give to her by her Master Teacher His Holiness Grandmaster Lin Yin.