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February 16, 2006 Fast Feng Shui Newsletter In
this issue:
House-Hunting
with Feng Shui Hello everyone, I know some of you are wondering if you’ve missed a newsletter or two because you haven’t heard from me lately, but the simple truth is that I haven’t sent one out in a while. So far 2007 has been very busy for us, not only with project deadlines but also with house-hunting and getting ready to move (again!). After almost eight years in sunny south Maui, my husband and I have decided to relocate to the east side of the Big Island. Because many readers struggle with how to take the feng shui guidelines and principles they read in books and use them in a real life situation, I thought I would share with you some of the feng shui factors and issues that guided my own move and house-hunting decisions. One factor is climate: often we focus on the interior feng shui of our homes, but landscape and climate are the first factors to consider in evaluating a location. South Maui weather is perfect for enjoying the many beautiful beaches here; with an average rainfall of only 9” it’s a very yang (bright, sunny, dry) climate, made more so by frequent strong winds in the afternoon. Add in more visitors than residents (lots of “coming and going” energy), and that this is the fastest-growing community in the state (lots of construction and traffic), and you have an even more active (yang) environment. Over the past few years all this yang energy has started to feel like too much of a good thing to us, and lately I’ve been yearning for a more yin environment. This is one reason we’ve felt drawn to the east side of the Big Island, where annual rainfall is well over 100” and where on a typical day the weather can shift from sun to a gentle drizzle and back to sun several times. The landscape there is intensely green and lush (lots of botanical gardens and orchid farms), and the climate feels calm and soothing after our years in south Maui. Just one sunny day after returning from our house-hunting trip, we already missed the gentle yin-to-yang-and-back-again rhythm of Hilo weather. We feel relaxed and happy there because of the climate and landscape, and that means it’s a good place for us to live. As you can imagine, feng shui guidelines also play a big role in our housing choice. Many of the homes available at the time we were looking were so unappealing we barely slowed down as we drove past. It may be good advice in real estate terms to buy the worst house on the best street and fix it up, but feng shui says if it’s the worst house on the street you can be confident it has worse feng shui than the neighbors, and that’s not a good thing! (Plus, since we plan to rent for a year or two before buying, “fixing up” is not an option.) Our final decision came down to a choice between two houses. House #1 had some nice things going for it: the rent was low (always nice) and the “predecessor chi” was good. In terms of layout, there were no visible feng shui problems. The front door was fine, the interior layout was fine, bathroom locations were fine; no overhead beams or low ceilings or gloomy interiors or awkward corners or poorly placed stairs or “secret arrows,” etc. The neighborhood was okay, the yard was okay … but it all added up to not very much. It was just “okay.” We didn’t see any feng shui problems, but there was nothing that we could get excited about, either. It was adequate, and profoundly uninspiring. We labeled it “Plan B,” and kept looking. Late in the afternoon on the last day we were in town, we found House #2. The rent was higher, but the seaside location was great, with a path to a sheltered swimming cove. And, like House #1, the predecessor chi was good. But it had some feng shui drawbacks. For one thing, it’s in the “tsunami inundation zone” which makes me a little nervous. And although that means it’s a good thing the house is raised one storey off the ground on stilts, stilts are not good feng shui. Nor are the many stairs and turns leading up to the front door. Or the exposed (slanted) ceilings on the second floor. Or the less-than-ideal kitchen-bathroom configuration. Or the fact that what could have been a spectacular ocean view is mostly blocked by trees. Going purely by a feng shui checklist, this wasn’t nearly as good a house as “Plan B.” And yet, overall, we liked it much better. It’s larger, and has a nicer kitchen and more luxurious master bath. The huge decks are something we were specifically looking for (which House #1 lacked). There’s a more appealing and larger space for home office use (very important). It’s more sheltered and private, less exposed to the neighbors, and the neighborhood itself is more pleasant for walking. The place just felt good to us in a way that House #1 didn’t. I’m sharing these details with you because in my books and newsletters and Q+A responses I frequently make the point that practicing feng shui (rather than just reading about it) is more about making informed decisions based on your preferences and priorities than it is about coercing your space into conformity with “perfect feng shui” rules. In looking for a new place to live my husband and I had a choice between a house with good feng shui that we didn’t feel inspired by, and a house that we knew we would love to live in in spite of some not-great feng shui issues. We chose the house with the problems, because the house with better feng shui felt like settling for less than what we wanted, and the feng shui-challenged house said “yes” to us. We feel excited and happy at the prospect of living there, and we know that we can put remedies in place to minimize the impact of the less-than-ideal features. Feng shui isn’t just about fixing “checklist” issues; it’s about choosing and creating a space that you will love to live in. When you’re dealing with questions of the chi of a space, your own intuition is as powerful a barometer as any checklist of “dos and don’ts.” The house we selected had the one quality that is more important than all other factors combined: We knew when we saw it that it was the house we’d been looking for. Aloha, * * * The next time you hear from me, I’ll be writing from our new home on the Big Island. To those readers awaiting responses to their feng shui questions, please accept my apologies for asking you to be patient a little longer. I’ll be catching up on emails (and writing more frequent newsletters) once we’re settled in the new house.
Featured Resources
Clutter
Clearing Tip DEALING WITH OVERWHELM Walking into a room full of clutter -- especially spaces like attics and guest bedrooms that have been allowed to fill up with stuff -- can feel overwhelming, and the resolve that you had to do something about the clutter suddenly vanishes. If facing a whole room full of stuff stops you in your tracks, remove something from the room (an armload of books, a box of stuff, a pile of papers) and take it to a space where you feel comfortable -- out on the porch, or the dining room table, or wherever, and sit there, away from the overwhelming mess of the cluttered room, and just deal with that one pile of stuff. Then, if you still feel inspired, go back for another armload of stuff. If you don't feel inspired, pat yourself on the back for having done a little bit, and then do another little bit tomorrow. "My decluttering muscles are growing stronger
at last. I'm getting rid of stuff here and there, and it's getting easier."
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Mahalo,
Miscellaneous Newsletter Archives This newsletter is published approximately twice a month. If you missed our previous issues, you can read them here. ••• We also invite you to visit our sister sites: All About Prosperity - Develop your Prosperity Consciousness and Wealth Building skills. We have articles and resources on creative visualization, emotional intelligence , releasing blocks , and more. Amazon Herbs - 3 Reason why Amazon Rainforest herbs are unique: Pure Source, Special Spagyric Processing that retains life force, and Doctor-Proven. Save your health while helping save the Rainforest. Q-Link EMF Protection Solutions - Electropollution is the number one health concern among Americans. Learn how to protect yourself, your home and office environment with the Q-Link line of products. Stem Cell Nutrition - Boost your own circulating adult stem cells by up to 30% per single dose with StemEnhance, the world's first natural stem cell nurition supplement. Adult stem cells are your body's own natural renewal system. Watch videos and find out more. Cellphone-Health.com - Patented technology found to reduce the adverse effects of radiation from mobile phones, PDAs, Bluetooth, and other devices.
(c)
2007 Stephanie Roberts. All rights reserved.
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