Clients seek my Feng Shui expertise for a variety of reasons.
Maybe their career has hit a slump, relationships are feeling rocky, “something’s off” in their home or it may be as simple as they just moved and don’t know how to arrange their furniture for the best flow. They feel that a change in their environment will quickly solve their situation.
Here’s the thing though: solving a problem isn’t always a quick fix, even with Feng Shui.
For sure, there are times that a small change can dramatically shift your life and bring immediate results, but let’s be real – change is hard.
Even when people come to me seeking solutions, implementing can come with personal challenges, and well, change takes time. Change rarely happens overnight.
How often do you beat yourself up for not reaching your goals immediately? It’s like expecting a seed to grow into a tree by the next morning. Yeah, no.
First, you need to bring your desires into consciousness, process them, and then break them down into manageable action steps.
To illustrate this scenario, I’m using a familiar and perfect example, ME!
Behind the scenes, I’ve been quietly Feng Shui-ing my own Parisian rental apartment, and let me tell you, being my own client is both fun and challenging. It’s all about aligning my goals and energy with the space, while never forgetting functionality. Always functionality.
Typically, I’d start with the bedroom since that is the most important room in your home for many reasons. But hey, rules are meant to be broken, right? I often tailor my approach for clients, so why not for myself? My bedroom was already in good shape and I have been sleeping well, so I decided to dive into the living room first.
My Airbnb rental isn’t too bad, nicer than anything else on the market at the time I was looking. Once I committed to staying here for a while, I realized it was time to make it truly my own and create the energy that was just right for me.
When I start a Feng Shui evaluation of a space with a client, I always ask: How do you want to feel when you walk into your space and what is the first thing you see? For me, the first thing I saw was a wall that screamed for attention. Here is the original AirBnB wall I was working with:
I didn’t like cartoon characters staring at me so I took them down. My wall was blank for months.
And guess what area of the Bagua that was for me – my area of Joy and Completion – or in my case, the opposite applied as well – it is the area of Sadness and LACK of Completion!
My intention and goal for my home are to feel cozy and inspired, while making sure my space helps me process the big changes I recently underwent. I’m not caring about what others think; I’m just focusing on what makes me smile.
So I began envisioning, one of the key YIN steps (yin – quiet and introspective) in the Feng Shui process. You need time to ask yourself the questions: what’s your intention, budget, timing and of course, what’s your style?
Aesthetics are crucial in my work – you need to see YOUR version of beauty that makes YOU feel happy in the environment you’ve created.
Also, a lifelong dream of mine was to have a classic Parisian Haussmannian apartment – large French windows, herringbone floors, ornate molding, a classic mirror and a wood burning fireplace. Uh, did I mention a fireplace?
I’ve always loved fireplaces. It’s probably because I have alot of the elements of Earth and Metal in me and the Fire element helps me alot. Here are some photos as proof of my fireplace love:
Staring at my blank and joyless wall, I made the decision that I was going for it. I was putting in a fireplace, despite all my friends’ raised eyebrows. Obviously not an antique working marble one (one day!) as it was not in my logistical prowess. Or budget. Or rental constraints. So as hoaky as an electric fireplace seems, I didn’t care, it was going in.
So I got to work on Phase 1.
- I got inspired
- I researched my options
- I visualized my options
1 . INSPIRATION – No words needed. I think you get the idea.
2. MY OPTIONS. I know, very limited due to size and price but, I’m an optimist and will work with it 🙂
3. VISUALIZED my options
Here is me imagining my new, New Beginnings/Completion area, using painter’s tape for a visual reference of my various options and even adding some suitcases to help me imagine the fireplace’s depth to make sure it would be functional for my space, aka, I’m not constantly banging my leg into it.
Oh and of course, you need to be able to imagine flowers on the fireplace mantle!
On this blog, it seems like a quick process, but Phase 1 took months. During the process, I was juggling work, travel and research/deliberation. Also undertaking the process of purchasing large products in France. A very drawn out process. So you see, the Feng Shui process is sometimes not fast, even for a Feng Shui consultant!
YOUR TURN: Tell me what home project you are currently tackling or would like to tackle? Also, for pure amusement, can you guess which mirror and fireplace I chose?
Stay tuned for next week’s blog post for videos of the execuction and completion of Phase 1!
Feng Shui is not a Luxury, but a Necessity.
{*spoiler alert: the opening photo is not my apartment although I really wish it was!}
