I found a book titled Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life, by Karen Rauch Carter, in a stack of books near the living room window. I don't have a clue where I got it. I suspect a visitor left it. It may have been deposited behind a couch cushion or slid under a door by a kind neighbor. Its arrival is of no importance, actually, as it may have lingered in that pile for years, unnoticed. The title got my attention two weeks ago, and I took it as a command: Move your stuff! Change your life!
Feng Shui is the study of spatial relationships of things. It's an ancient art that uses common sense and wisdom. "Thoughtful placement," the author calls it. I like how she placed those words together. Certain that I exude common sense and wisdom, I sat down on yet another pile of books and prepared to read.
I wisely got a clipboard before I started. I put sheets of clean, white paper onto it, and stole a sharpened pencil from my husband. I was ready to find out what to do to get ENERGY to move through my home, unhampered.
The key word here is "unhampered," meaning without anything being in its way. (uncontrolled laughter..............)
My hallway had been set up to trap thieves and thugs who break in at night. Three plastic bins filled with rice, bread flour, and a bag of sugar kept us safe all this time, and THEY WORKED! No one broke in to slit our throats. My husband had asked me to move them. No way!
But it is interesting that Karen Rauch Carter, whom I've never met, got me to move them in less than a week.
ENERGY! The book names it "Ch'i" and says to pronounce it "chee". (The tea is Chi and you pronounce that "chie." I became addicted to chi tea this winter. Between the CHEE and the CHIE, I seem to be speaking Chinese a lot. The Chi gives me Ch'i, I suppose. (OK, enough of that.)
Back to Feng Shui. This is also a pronunciation issue. Karen Rauch Carter says to call it "Fung Shway," but I've heard it called "Fung Shwah," and "Fung Shwee" and actually one person called it "f--- you," but that's another story. Let's call it FUNG SHWAY so we know what we're saying in our heads.
I couldn't read the whole book in a day. Oh, no............I have STUDIED this book, taken notes, and given myself ASSIGNMENTS. Why do it half way? (Would it then be called only "Fung?")
I drew a diagram of my house, divided it into nine areas, labeled them, colored them, wrote body part names on them, and put numbers into each area. My diagram was a masterpiece. I thought I might be done then. Wrong! The idea was to fix the house, not just to draw a pretty diagram.
Each of those nine areas represents an aspect of our life, and my assignments were to fix the spaces so that positive energy would encompass us, move into and around our home, and make everything that isn't perfect, better. OK....................
In the past two weeks, I have done things, in the name of good energy flow to improve the quality of our life, that seem incredible.
I rearranged the bedroom to stop energy from flowing over my hubby's hips, so he could sleep better and be cured of back pain. I moved a dresser to a corner so as not to throw "negative" energy back towards us as we unsuspectingly slept in a state of danger. Who knew?
I placed a large red piece of cardboard under the bed, which is to energize us both.........
My bedside table drawers are lined with purple wrapping paper, and a purple sweater rests in a drawer, bedside. Our bedroom happens to sit in the "prosperity" corner of the house, so not only will we be sleeping better, but we will prosper financially from these moves.
Outside the house, by our front door, I buried four large, plastic, green army men to guard us from intruders. To think that all these years I thought the rice, sugar and flour were doing that in the hallway!
The color of the front door will be changed, too. Red is the color to bring the best energy inside. Red would look terrible with our brick color, so we're going to use salmon. Red salmon.......get it? (We've bought the paint, so don't call with a better idea.)
A metal frame with all three of my children is in the kitchen, which is the "relationship and love" area. This is to bring them closer to me and more into my life. I received text messages from two of them right after I moved the photo. The third sent love. (One brought laundry yesterday.)
I tied red ribbons on the outgoing drains to keep good energy from going down them. I hope nobody sees them. Our plumber will think I dressed the pipes up for him. The ribbons look silly there, but if they work..................
In a hallway, the "helpful people and travel" area, I've placed a statue of David, shiny boxes and folders holding lists of helpful people and immediate dealings. Interestingly, two of the helpful people, whose names I tossed into the silver box, have already helped or completed an expectation I had for them. David is there to ensure that I get back to Italy some day.
My front hallway, the "career and life path" area, has a starfish and a beach photo. This represents water, the element of that area. Since I consider my career behind me, the life path part might be towards a beach. It doesn't hurt to think so.
Chimes are ringing on a porch, and a small bell is hanging in the guest bathroom. Energy is being called up.............and it is lingering in the bathroom, since it can't go down the drain...............red ribbons, remember.
I wrote two notes and hid them somewhere in the house. Don't ask me where. I really don't remember. They are to generate positive energy to bring about respect and a good reputation, just in case we could improve either.
The house looks tidier, I admit. I've sold items, donated books to a library sale, and Easter Seals took another pile of "stuff." I can move around easier, so I guess energy can, too. I wish I could see it.
I erased each "assignment" from my list as I completed it. If something in the book made sense, I wrote it on the assignment sheet, and carried it out the next day. Small details apparently make big differences in Feng Shui. ("Feng Shway")
There's still a lot to learn, and many things to relocate. I might move my husband to the other side of the sofa next.
I have laughed a lot in the past two weeks. I've done things that the hubby doesn't know about, and I won't tell. It feels as if I'm doing a magic trick and waiting to see if it works. Maybe this is some of the energy! I can walk without stubbing toes on things, too, I notice.
Absorbed in this topic, I took several more books about Feng Shui out of the library. I am not one to do things partially or without enthusiasm.
I'm drawing diagrams, adding numbers, breaking down sums, moving things here or there, and doing these bizarre things ...................but I've been laughing, and if good comes about, then MORE POWER TO IT!
It surely can't hurt anything. ........
Tomorrow I will bury a small mirror behind our house, facing the home of barking dogs across the way. This should deflect negativity coming towards our home, and reduce the annoyance we feel when four beasts bark in unison for long periods of time.
If that annoyance is reduced, believe me, I will have become a devotee............
Copyright: KP Gillenwater
