PACK UP YOUR SORROWS...

Quechua, the ancient language of the Andes, contains a concept called hucha, the heavy dense shadow energy carried around by human beings. People are unique among the animal kingdom in their ability to carry this energy, the accumulation of worry, anger, fear, low self-esteem, guilt -- negative thinking in all its myriad forms.

One of the greatest skills we can develop as human beings is the ability to let go of this burden, to find ways to lighten our load. Some simple ways are to go outside into nature: sit or lie on the ground, or lean up against a tree. Take some deep breaths and imagine that you are breathing in refreshing sparkling energy; as you breathe out imagine that your cares and worries are leaving you. You may see this heaviness as a dark gray smoke or a muckiness. Interestingly, you may even “give” this energy to the tree. The Andean shamans tell us that, to the earth, our unwanted sticky energy is “food”. Lucky for us, the earth “knows how to use it…”

Saol fada chugat...

This charming Irish blessing translates:

May the road rise up to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And the rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you

In the palm of His hand.

We are always looking for that “just right” feeling in Feng Shui. We can achieve it when we combine our intention for balance with a feeling of gratitude for all the many blessings in our lives. These wonderful words in the ancient and mysterious Gaelic language are a reminder that people have always desired the same things -- safety, and also the sweetness of life.

ONLY CONNECT...

E.M. Forster penned this phrase in his novel, Howards End, exactly one hundred years ago. The thought continues, “Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer…”

One of the promises of Feng Shui is a life that is more congruent, more satisfying on many levels; but to achieve this, we need to “walk the walk”. In doing this work, there is sometimes the expectation that there is a magic wand that will solve all of our problems and challenges in one stirring swoop. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way –- we have to get involved. We need to roll up our sleeves and stir up the batter of our lives, maybe add some new ingredients. Sometimes we have to let things go –- old habits, old ideas, relationships that don’t work, work that isn’t satisfying, possessions that don’t really make us happy. If we can surrender to the process, even a little, it will truly carry us through to another cleaner, richer -- more connected -- version of our lives.

OUTSIDE THE K'AN LINE...

A client wrote from her new home in Arizona to let me know that she is settling in happily after a rocky 2009. Last year she not only coped with a serious health issue, but left the company for which she had worked for over two decades after her position was eliminated. She is wondering, as many of us are… What comes next??

Feng Shui uses a tool called the Bagua map to divide a space into sectors that correspond to major life issues. This imaginary grid can be applied to homes and businesses alike, and is oriented to the front door, along which runs the bottom perimeter of the grid, called the K’an line. Anything outside the K’an line is considered, well, outside.

After the financial upheavals of the past year, many of us are finding ourselves outside the K’an line of our former lives. What had been familiar, dependable, unshakable is now a thing of the past. We are in new waters, trying to chart a new course, stay afloat. Although we may not know what is next for us, and the temptation may be to look back with longing or bitterness toward an old familiar world –- it’s time to let go. If we can actually surrender to the process of change, there is a promise of finding a deeper sense of safety and home within ourselves -- one in which we are always inside the K’an line.