West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick

By Caroline Patrick

Get Motivated One Drawer at a Time

This has been a major year of transitions for many of my friends and clients. Using Feng Shui to support these changes helps to make transitions easier. When personal harmony feels out of sync, look to your home for clues. Your life is like many rooms, each one has its own purpose, joined together by walls, beams, a floor and a roof. Some homes are built with easy-flowing hallways and staircases which allow smooth-flowing Chi or energy to travel from one area to the next; while other houses have disjointed floor plans, leaving the occupants feeling frustrated, sick, tired, angry or out of balance.

One of the first assignments for my new students is to draw all of the floor plans they can remember. This assignment takes you on a personal journey beginning at childhood. Using Feng Shui to interpret these dwellings, I am able to “see” how the houses form “footprints” and patterns which become comfortable to the person. These comfort zones are subconsciously tapped when choosing a new residence. If an unbalanced feeling is familiar, then the buyers chose a floor plan which supports those chaotic attachments. On the other hand, if you are used to balance, balance will be needed in the choice of a home.

Personally, struggle has been my “mantra” for years, and after learning the techniques of Feng Shui, my life has calmed down. I now choose Feng Shui-friendly homes and then clutter them up, defeating myself ! Yes, I confess to being human. It seems I am a reformed pack-rat, only an inch away from a clutter-bust! We have lived in the Northwest for only three years, and I seem to be wading in paper, books and clothes that don’t fit. “Why did I move all that stuff up here anyway?” I ask the Gods. Knowing I was the only one that could solve the dilemma, I began in the garage. The last few weeks have been likened to surgery. Cutting a path through the garage, one isle at a time, I began to uncover my past.

Procrastination is my enemy. Could it be because of my little grandsons? “That is a good excuse,” I tell myself. “Chasing a 3 and 5 year old takes time. Now they are at school most of the day because they are 6 and 8 – so I guess that won’t fly – and they have moved into their own house,” I confess. After this lengthy discussion with myself, it was time to face facts and get rid of things which don’t support me.

I began gently, throwing away obsolete papers from class projects in 1980. My daughter and I attended many workshops in Tucson, Arizona. She was just married and going to the university. It was a fun time joining her for weekend seminars with “new” authors such as Wayne Dwyer. Seeing this material brought back good memories. “I’m sure he has written new material by now !” (30 or 40 books), so I began tossing those old notes. More material from my college days and then on to books. I’m a book hog! Getting rid of books is like selling my firstborn, but I load them in crates to recycle. Stopping for a quick break, I peek at the latest email and see the 400 or so unread messages. My finger hits the delete button once, twice, then 100, 200 or more without reading them. I feel exhilarated seeing the new space all blank and clear on the screen. What fun to feel the freedom of new space. Suddenly a scorching smell comes from the kitchen. My lunch is gone also and maybe that’s a good thing!

Next, I decide the checkbook covers need tossing, as the plastic is ripped and taped, holding my driver’s license in place. Getting more tape out of the junk drawer, I spy three old phone books to toss and a drawer full of old coupons, a Welcome Wagon booklet and some old vitamins, an answering machine that doesn’t work, and a tape recorder ten years old. “What am I doing?” I loudly ask myself. “Why do we clog the house with all these unnecessary things?” Next I grab the kitchen waste basket and began emptying the cabinets of things I don’t love or use.

How does it happen and why do we let it happen? Having excess only leads to opportunities failing. Fresh energy fails to enter the home as it becomes blocked by shoeboxes and more. Results are bad grades for the kids and health problems for the whole family. Don’t let the stuff pile up, don’t let that drippy faucet continue to take away your money and health. Unclog hallways to ensure easy Chi flow nurturing your veins and arteries. Get the books off the beds, get the electrical items out of the bedrooms and place a mirror reflecting the dining area for health and wealth. Use the front door or call me to find out options for activating the entry if you insist on using the garage as an entryway.

Get motivated. It will be worth the effort. Clearing a home WILL bring new business and health to your doorstep. Look around your living space for advice. The house and yard will talk to you. Listen!

CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS 2006------sign up now------

1. ART classes and workshops ---- from 6 weeks to Saturday All Day Workshops!

2. FENG SHUI ISLAND TOUR---- on site evaluations in the San Juan Islands, WASHINGTON STATE

Where is the entrance or “Mouth of Chi” to the Island?

Please email caroline@fengshuiartistry.com for more information on classes or to purchase her greeting cards.

This site is great. GO TO www.fengshuifusions.com for all of your Feng Shui shopping needs, ask for Amanda and tell her Caroline sent you. She has great energy and that is important........ or order by phone, 1-800-792-9927,

Caroline Patrick Caroline's Feng Shui Concepts Mt. Vernon, WA 360-424-1501

caroline@fengshuiartistry.com www.fengshuiartistry.com www.moongateschool.com

Caroline Patrick, Feng Shui consultant/practitioner, teacher/speaker, Feng Shui artist and writer, lives in the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington. Her weekly newspaper article called WEST MEETS EAST is a popular Feng Shui advice column. She enjoys answering your questions, when possible. Some questions will be chosen for publication with the permission from the reader. Enjoy her new 5 Element attached-folding cards which can be used as a Feng Shui enhancement or correction in any space. Larger prints of several selected paintings are also available. For consultations, speaking/teaching engagements and art evaluations contact her at caroline@fengshuiartistry.com or visit her websites at www.fengshuiartistry.com and www.moongateschool.com.

Any suggestions given in this column are only for entertainment. Please contact your physician for any medical or herbal advice or diagnosis. Caroline Patrick is not responsible for any misuse of her advice or suggestions.