Home Sweet Home
©Caroline Patrick • East meets West

Several years ago when traveling was a way of life for my husband and myself, I began to investigate the different schools of balance and harmony. After our children were raised, I decided to "run away from home" with my partner and take some time off from a hectic schedule which I had created. Teaching art for two colleges in Arizona, raising two teenagers and looking after an 80-acre farm, while my husband worked away most of the time, was an experience. Now, with our daughter married and college life quickly approaching for the youngest member of the family, I was free to explore the outer world. While traveling, a friend’s newspaper clipping would frequently fall from the worn pages of a loved painting book. The article contained information on ways to improve the flow of energy in a living space.

My space had certainly been reduced. I had exchanged a 100-mile open view of mountains and sunsets for twelve-hour drives and motel rooms. I could either feel free or trapped. It is ironic; the art of placement made itself known to me during these travels. Feng shui knowledge was falling at my feet and I was stuffing the pages of this very worn article back into a book, to be studied at a more convenient time. The door of change opened again and again while I pushed it away.

My husband’s work took us thousands of miles. We laughed a lot, argued a lot, talked a lot, enjoyed being together and loved being apart at times. There is a lot to be said about togetherness. Living in Hawaii was good. Open spaces, in condos with open windows inviting afternoon tropical mists upon your face, like a refreshing spritz embracing the empty air. The flow of ocean breezes filled the rooms facing the leeward side of the island.

His next assignment might be the northwest United States, New Mexico, Nevada or Southern California. Each location had its own energy.

We tried several modes of transportation and living quarters during those fourteen years of travel.

Apartments, townhouses, and condos all held a common feeling. This invisible feeling of pasted occupants played upon our attitudes as we took over the last family’s "stuff." Whether it was a short stay or a long-term lease, I realized our energies mingled with leftover chi or the breath of life of the previous people. I began to record and research the previous occupants.

Sometimes I was without a car. Using this abundance of time, I filled it with making friends at the pool and laundry rooms. I was given a most precious gift, the gift of time. Some days it was a joy to read, study, paint or write. Other days I felt trapped, abandoned, lonesome and needed family and friends 2000 miles away.

One day when feeling sorry for myself, I opened the art book and out slid the worn feng shui clipping. After ten years of on-the-road living, we were back in California for a time, the land of old and new thinking. The article grabbed my attention once more. Taking the paper in hand, I decided to find a bookstore to see if I could locate any more information on the art of placement.

After searching the shelves under many categories, I finally located a small black-and-red colored book by Sarah Rossbach. Opening the pages, an eight-sided octagonal-shaped drawing filled one page. The illustration looked similar to the homes of the Navaho Indians. The perfectly shaped eight lines formed a grid. Each section represented a station of living or aspect of a person’s life. The Navaho house structure, called a hogan, is seen over a vast region near Page, Arizona where we had recently stayed.

I bought the little book, read it cover to cover in a brief time and became acquainted with the ancient Chinese system. Now I understand why different dwellings have different feelings based on homes which either are whole or have missing parts.

Tracing back over all the homes in which we stayed over the years, I could definitely see which apartments, rooms, RV 5^th wheels or complexes were compatible or which spaces created tension between my husband and myself.

Using feng shui as a tool, I began to make simple adjustments to the current ‘home.’ Over the weeks our communication improved as I added a plant here and a mirror there.

Drastic changes are rarely necessary. Small items or images are just as powerful when your intention or prayer is added to the improvement.

Take time to learn the art of feng shui. Don’t wait as long as I did to make changes in job opportunities, schooling, family life, wealth or abundance, reputation, marriage or your love life. Find time for hobbies and children by adjusting the middle right section of your house. Or find out what can be done about health issues. All nine areas of your life can be addressed through the DNA of the living space.

Join us for our upcoming workshop:

Mapping Your Home

Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. — 12 noon

Caroline’s Arts

129 1^st Street

Benicia

Sign up now by calling 707-748-1127