Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life

by Karen Rauch Carter

  | Retail Rescue |

  Most businesses that rely on walk-in patronage need lively energy to keep sales flowing. If this is you, here’s a tip. Take the merchandise off the shelves (especially slow-moving stuff) and dust the shelf. People don’t like to buy dusty stuff anyway. But more important, this will stir up the energy. Stirred-up energy creates sales. As an example, think of all the cheap, hokey stuff car dealers do to catch your attention. They use whirligigs on antennas, strings of flapping pennants, and huge balloons, just to name a few. And they must be getting results or they wouldn’t keep doing it. It works because quite simply, it is good feng shui.

  If there is a particular part of the store that seems sluggish, enhance it with one of the traditional cures, like a chime above the merchandise, or mirrors behind the shelves. If the whole store is suffering, check the lighting (darkness slows sales), the entry (it’s hard to make sales if they can’t find you), and your register placement (prominent position seen upon entering, but not too close to the door to tempt robbers). Don’t forget about the chime-by-the-door trick that I explained earlier.

  | Flower Power |

  In between your home and office is an assortment of spaces and conditions that may be either positively or negatively affecting you. So think about applying feng shui to them to keep your ch’i uplifted. Use my colored construction paper method to feng shui your car (see Figure 35). Cut a six-inch bagua shape in each of the eight outside gua colors and cut a nine-inch circle in yellow for the center. Arrange them in the proper order and tape them together. The final configuration should look like a colorful daisy with a yellow center and different-colored petals. Place this daisy under the mat of the car. The black petal of the daisy should be closest to the rear trunk, and red (Fame) toward the engine. Cut out tiny daisies and place them under your bike seat if that is your mode of transportation. If you ride a train or plane to work, simply having a daisy (any size) somewhere on you (or in your briefcase, shoe, or underwear) will assist you while on the road. Since this daisy is a complete bagua representation, it’s hard to think of any place inappropriate.

  Feng shui and your car.

  FIGURE 35

  | Dipping Your Pen in Company Ink |

  Just as there is a close connection between your career and your reputation, there is a connection with them in the bagua (see Figure 36). Picture them balancing each other like two kids on a seesaw. If one kid is heavier, the other’s feet never gets to touch the ground. Or if one kid gets off, the other plummets to the ground. Likewise with your career. If you build a reputation that is heavy with rumor, negligence, or apathy, you may find it hard to keep your feet on your chosen path due to being fired, laid off, or transferred to a distant land. You don’t have to read too far inside the newspapers to find out where sleeping your way to the top gets you. Keep the Career and the Reputation guas in balance to best benefit your career.

  FIGURE 36

  An Ear for Career

  * * *

  Children with chronic ear infections? The Career area is associated with the ear. Enhance this area of the bagua if you or someone living in the household is experiencing ear problems.

  Six of One, Half a Dozen of Another

  * * *

  Six is the number associated with the Career and Life Path area of the home. The essence of 6 is service. Whether you are a Jelly Belly maker or a jelly-loving belly dancer, your life path includes service—service to your family, other people, the environment, or animals. But being of service is easier to accomplish if you live in a 6 house. One tip for the 6 dweller: be sure to allow receiving in your life, too, because sometimes sixes just give, give, give. If you have six of something in this spot of the house, intend for it to assist with your life path.

  Immediate Action Items for Career and Life Path

  * * *

  1. Make sure the front door doesn’t stick and opens all the way (nothing stored behind it).

  2. Add enhancements as necessary.

  | Career and Life Path in Summary |

  Power Tools: water, black, undulating shapes, mirrors, glass, metal, white, round stuff, symbols of life path you want to be on.

  Hazardous Materials: dirt, squares, earth-tone colors, pictures of things you would never want to do in your life.

  Opposite Gua: Fame and Reputation

  Body Part: ear

  Associated Number: 6

  chapter 8

  * * *

  If I Only Had a Brain—Skills and Knowledge

  Placing items wisely in the Skills and Knowledge area of the home could help you

  make better grades

  make better decisions

  be more creative

  be a better businessperson

  attract opportunities, situations, and people to help in all areas of your life

  tap into your inner wisdom more often

  find the inner strength and will to begin a seemingly ominous or overwhelming task

  have better relationships

  If you could feng shui one area of your home, this should be the one. I know, you’re probably thinking, “Skills and Knowledge. I’ve got bigger fish to fry over in Prosperity land. Don’t be bothering me with that tired old Skills and Knowledge stuff. My brain isn’t on drugs. I’m not so bad off.” But trust me, what I’m telling you is true.

  Although this area is glossed over by many feng shui practitioners because of its relatively unglamorous title and seemingly unimportant life situation, Skills and Knowledge is vitally important. Our ability to think, rationalize, and purposefully hone our minds is what separates us from all other creatures on earth. Life is a learning process, and the more smarts you have, the better off you’ll be. Many feng shui practitioners simply call this bagua area wisdom.

  Let’s say, for example, that you are griping about not having enough money. You start adorning your Prosperity zone with all the right stuff. The money starts to show up. Now, if you don’t have your head screwed on right and aren’t wise to what’s going on, you may not even notice that more money is coming in. Or you may spend it unwisely—thus never feeling prosperous, and thinking feng shui is not working in your Prosperity area.

  Or else you amplify the Relationship section because you are looking for the perfect mate. All these people start to show up in your life, but as usual, you choose the losers and completely miss noticing the right one. You don’t learn from your own mistakes.

  If you don’t have the wisdom to make proper choices, you may never even recognize the opportunities and the abundance right in front of you. The term wisdom means more than just knowing a lot of facts. I know plenty of people who know tons of stuff, and they still make incredibly poor choices in life. Wisdom is an insightful understanding of what is right, appropriate, or true. With wisdom you can more easily accumulate the things you want out of life—and hey, that’s what this is all about, right?

  OK, to get to this important corner, go through the main door and turn left. This space to the left of the Career gua in front of the home is considered the Skills and Knowledge gua (see Figure 37). How smart does it look?

  Sometimes the doorway is located in that corner and you actually enter immediately into Skills and Knowledge. Either way, here’s the stuff that works and the stuff that doesn’t in this area.

  Skills and Knowledge location in bagua.

  FIGURE 37

  Power Tools for Skills and Knowledge

  * * *

  Blue Blue is the color for this part of the bagua, so just about anything blue will do. Cramming for finals? Hang your blue jeans in the corner to get a better grade. Viagra is a little blue pill. Blue is for skills and knowledge. Hmmm . . .

  Books Books make the perfect enhancement for the Skills and Knowledge area, for obvious reasons. Use a few or all you’ve got. Even if this area falls in your garage, set up a little spot to display stuff that helps you get wise. Use bookends that symbolize a skill of yours, or a skill that you would like to master. A friend o
f mine has his books held up by blue polished geode bookends. He’s into geology among other things.

  Light Light is one of those traditional cures that can energize just about anything. But used here in the Skills and Knowledge section, it can be especially meaningful. Any light works great—lamps with lightbulbs, lanterns, candles. Heck, just a lightbulb with proper intent can do the trick. The sayings “Shed some light on the subject” and “Gain enlightenment” hint that light helps with knowledge and intelligence. If you are using a lamp, remember—as long as it is plugged in and works, it will do. It does not have to be on for good feng shui.

  Food If your kitchen is in this corner of your home, intend that all the food you buy become food for thought. (Who would have thought Cap’n Crunch and lamb chops could be so useful?)

  Things That Remind You of Wisdom A replica of Rodin’s The Thinker, a lamp of knowledge, the scales of justice, a judge’s gavel, a chess game, a straight-A report card, and those cute, intelligent dolphins all make great ch’i enhancers. If you think higher thoughts with something, put it here.

  Symbols of Mentors or Wise People A statue of Solomon would make a great symbol of wisdom. He was the guy in the Bible that, when God asked him what he wanted, responded, “Wisdom.” He knew that if he had wisdom he could get the other stuff—money, land, health, and anything else he needed.

  You can also use the three Wise Men (even if it’s not Christmas), Merlin the magician, Yoda, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Einstein, or Gandhi depicted in statues, pictures, posters, or toys.

  Metal “Sharp as a tack” and “razor-sharp mind” help illustrate how metal can suggest great intelligence. Remember the “one-cent cure”—a penny? It’s metal and it has Lincoln on it, who is known for his intelligence and wisdom. “A penny for your thoughts!” Save your pennies here and see what thoughts come of it.

  Water Borrowing the water from next door in Career can enliven this gua to invite wisdom your way. From a little bud vase to a hot tub, start the waterworks and get into the “stream” of consciousness.

  Black As long as you can use water, you can use the color that symbolizes the element. Nuns, priests, Quakers, and Shakers—hang your black garb here.

  Wood Borrow the element from the gua on the other side, Family. Wood works well placed intentionally to attract wisdom. All that paper in those books is trees in action.

  Green Wood and green—same thing in feng shui. Use green plants, dollar bills, clothes, or paint—anything green.

  Meditation Items If you find your wisdom by meditating, this area of the home will yield the best insights. Create a quiet retreat using your bench, chair, or pillows.

  Altars of Thanksgiving Creating a small place in this gua to remind you of all the things you have to be thankful for can add to your wisdom and awareness.

  Symbols of the Skills or Knowledge You Want to Have College students, put things here that symbolize your major. (And while you’re working on this, consider removing the collection of beer bottles from around the world.) Hobbyists, work your craft here.

  Hazardous Materials for Skills and Knowledge

  * * *

  Clutter Thinking clearly requires a clear space. Don’t clutter your mind with unnecessary stuff in your living quarters . . . and yes, I mean the whole house.

  Things That Stop the Thought Process Alcohol, drugs, poisons, and cigarettes all cloud the thought process and should be kept away from here. If you happen to have a bar in this area of your home, balance it out by having some healthy choices to offer guests—perhaps a juice bar and alcohol bar combo. Sorry about those cigs, smokers, but it really is not too wise to smoke, even if it makes you relax so you can think.

  Remember, you have to do your part. Feng shui will only meet you halfway. If you get bombed every night and blow off your job or homework, all the gua embellishing in the world isn’t going to lead you to wisdom or happiness.

  Unwise Symbols Be careful with the newspaper—it is chock full of stupid people and stupid things (corruption, murder, fires, bankruptcies), things you don’t want to invite into your life. Mike Tyson, Bill Clinton or Monica Lewinsky, River Phoenix, Robert Downey Jr., or anyone else who has done something stupid or just doesn’t get it needs to stay out of this zone.

  | Left Your Brain in the Garage? |

  In a lot of homes, the Skills and Knowledge or Helpful People area of the house falls in the garage. As much as some people hope that their garage is not a part of their home, if it lies behind the plane of the front door, it is (see Figure 38). Now, don’t go running off to sue your architect or builder yet. Most are oblivious to feng shui. I’m sure they didn’t do it intentionally. (Support the feng shui cause—give an architect a copy of this book!)

  Garages have an unusual energy about them. Either they have very fast energy whirling about from vehicles coming and going, or they are so crammed with junk that the cars don’t fit, and the energy has come to a grinding, stagnating halt. Either way, the energy is not suitable for comfortable living.

  Here’s what you can do about it:

  1. Cut the crap. You’ve got to take a stand against storing stuff you simply don’t use very often. The more clutter you have, the more brainpower you use subconsciously keeping track of it. Clear the clutter and you clear your mind. I will give a generous exception to the following if they are carefully organized and not overdone: holiday decorations (unless it’s scary, bloody Halloween gunk); children’s clothing and toys (if you are waiting for a younger sibling to grow into them); papers (the ones the IRS makes you keep for so many years).

  Garage in Skills and Knowledge gua.

  FIGURE 38

  And after you have the crap out, clean the garage as if it is a room in the house. Sweep the floors and dust away the spiderwebs.

  2. Clean your cars. If your car is filled with stale french fries and cigarette butts, you can’t help but have grubby energy around you. And if this skanky car is sitting in your wisdom area, well, what does that say about how smart you are? Besides affecting your Skills and Knowledge, a dirty car affects many other areas of life as well. Sit among the burger wrappers and big-gulp cups in a grungy car and then sit in a freshly detailed car, and tell me you can’t feel the difference. You wear this difference the way the car does. Think about that before you go to a job interview in a sloppy, sticky car.

  3. Lube the door. Entering your home by way of a squeeky, creepy, clunky garage door opening does not make for the perfect welcoming experience. “Stuck doors make stuck ch’i” applies to garage doors too.

  4. Shed some light. Garages without windows can appear quite dank inside. Make sure each corner is filled with an appropriate amount of light. No room in your home—even the garage—should creep you out.

  | The Wisdom to Go It Alone |

  My friend and feng shui practitioner Nate went to the home of a bachelor doctor who asked for his help. Although the doctor was prosperous and had money, he felt he didn’t know enough to decorate or properly furnish his home. One quick look around and Nate could see he was right. The home had the signature of a poor college student—boxes for shelves, hodgepodge furniture, and no window treatments. The doctor wanted Nate to help him “decorate” his home.

  Since Nate prides himself on feng shui and not necessarily interior design, he simply activated two areas of the bagua and left it at that. The two areas were Skills and Knowledge and Creativity. Nate explained that these two areas would help the doctor get the knowledge he needed to complete this task and confidence in his decision making. Nate also explained that enhancing the Creativity area would unearth the doctor’s long-since-squelched creative side, and help him with decorating ideas. Nate left the doctor to his own devices.

  About two months later, the doctor asked Nate over to see the place. When Nate entered, he was shocked. It was beautiful—just the right amount of masculine and feminine touches. “But some of this stuff is handmade. Who did that?” Nate asked. The doctor proudly said, “I did.” He said he went
to the craft store and found out how to make the things he wanted and just made them himself. Perhaps his Helpful People and Relationship corners were already working well for him, because he had no trouble acquiring help from the gals at the craft store.

  | Dumb and Dumber |

  Don’t you just hate it when you can’t make up your mind about something? Wouldn’t it be great if you could ask someone else to choose what is best for you when you are stuck in the middle of a big decision? Well, if you have that magic eight ball working overtime, you may want to try this new approach with a friend. The fun thing about it is, you can get your friend to make up your mind without them even knowing the question. This technique uses visualization. This visualization uses the same universal wisdom and energy that feng shui uses. And the more you strengthen your visualization skills, the faster the feng shui will be able to change your life. So if you have enhanced the Skills and Knowledge area, but still find yourself in a quandary and feel you have to decide on something immediately, try this:

  1. Write down three possible outcomes or choices and assign them a number. For example, if you are thinking about refinancing your house, you could write: “(1) Get a loan with a new bank. (2) Get a new loan with current bank. (3) Do not refinance at this time.”