Hey!  Here's an article I wrote for-evah ago that was appeared in a Sun Valley, Idaho publication.  Ezine.com found it and posted it on the Internet, so I decided I would too.

Enjoy!

What Feng Shui Reveals About YOU

By Katie Rogers

"A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life." --His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The above statement may seem simple at first reading, but upon consideration, it is really quite powerful. I believe that the Dalai Lama is emphasizing the importance of the state of one's living space.

Too many people are careless with the space in which they work or dwell. In terms of the Black Sect Tandtic Buddism school of feng shui (which is a derivative of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism), when a person is thoughtful (or thoughtless) in regard to his or her living space, it spills out into his or her life.

So why does feng shui have all those strange and curious "cures," you might ask, if all one has to do is create a "loving atmosphere"? The fact is most of us have forgotten what a loving atmosphere is. Sure, we may recognize it when we see it, but making it happen is a different story. This is a result of a mass disease that has taken over our world: that is the disease of not knowing how to love our selves completely. Otherwise, creating our lives according to our deepest desires and most lofty dreams would be a cinch.

I like to tell my clients to imagine reading a short story where the author describes the space. This a quick way to notice the "symbolism" that occurs in your own home. After all, the subconscious sees everything. It constantly absorbs messages from our environment and processes these messages. In turn, these messages are sent into our energy fields, creating the very lives we are experiencing. Imagine the difference of a home filled with unwanted gifts, dying plants, and cluttered closets compared to one with healthy flowers, treasured objects, and neatly organized closets with (gasp) extra space! The first home feels slightly neglected, even if the rest of the furnishings were pleasant, while the second space feels freer, lighter, and, cherished. Even the smallest of details have an impact. Our subconscious mind takes images without a filter.

symbolism goes a long way in feng shui--
interior design by Liz Williams

A wonderful start to a loving atmosphere is to first discard or give away any objects that you do not love in your home. Clutter is a sure way to block your highest potential as the subconscious sees it as a symbol of things that we don't love or need in our lives and creates accordingly. It is amazing how letting go of a thing as simple as a candle from an unfaithful ex-lover or a blanket that you have never used because it is too scratchy can lighten your load! The subconscious gets the message that you'd rather have something (or someone) better in your life.

Next, play with ideas, and find out what it is that want to invite into your life. Then consciously bring it into your home symbolically. For example, you've always wanted to travel to Italy. Then stick a postcard of Rome on your refrigerator. Would you like to amp up your love life? Figure out your own personal "romance symbol" and drape it, plant it, or play it on your stereo everyday. The key to creating a great life is to get creative!

With every object in our homes, we are sending a message to ourselves and to the Universe. Wouldn't you want your message to be one of pure and uplifting love so that you could receive that, and only that, back? Use your conscious mind to transform your subconscious mind, and then witness the shifts in your life.

Feng Shui is Not Perfection

My new friend, who had never been to my home, said to me, "Your feng shui stuff is kind of intimidating."

I was like, what?!  How?

"Well, I mean, isn't your home, like, perfect?"

This was a powerful moment for me.  I am so glad he asked me this because I got a peek into the psyche of a feng-shui-newbie, and I was determined to educate.

"Perfect?  Uh, no," I replied.  

The truth is, the apartment I live in is not my dream home.  It doesn't get enough light for my taste, I have to climb up a slight hill to get to it, and it's not in a walking-friendly neighborhood.  (i.e. The grocery store is out of walking distance.)   

And I'm "naturally messy."  I just am.  I'm a creative, right-brainer who tries so damn hard to be superbly organized, and even with all my feng shui training, I always fall a little short.  (Although, I've gotten a lot better, knowing the effect disorganization has on me!  Just sayin'.)

Source

So please -- FENG SHUI IS NOT ABOUT PERFECTION.  

What it is about, is loving where you are.  It's about putting the energy into WHAT YOU HAVE NOW, rather than pining away for what you think you want.   It's about making the best of what you've got, rather than nitpicking away, waiting for the "next thing."  It's about raising the energy in the here-and-now, rather than longing for that maybe-some-day.

It's about gratitude...and showing gratitude -- in your current space.  

After all, how many people do you know that have their "dream home," but they still aren't happy.  We choose the homes we need -- you know, the ones that are going to provide the lessons and wake-up calls that are going to take us further on our path.

So, for me, my apartment serves as a little-yin-haven -- a respite for my extroverted nature in an overly-yang(active) world.  The hill has toned my thighs, and the walking distance thing...well, that's a harder one to cure.  

Here's a story:

When I first moved to Los Angeles at age 25, a feng shui-newbie myself, I moved into a nice, comfortable apartment living with a friend-of-a-friend in the Wilshire District.

The area was great in that it was central, but being a highly sensitive person (HSP) and having moved there from Kauai where nature abounds, I quickly realized that I wouldn't last long in the high-voltage city environment unless I had easy access to nature.  

In other words, the beach was calling.  

Venice Beach by Jeffrey Stanton

But try as I might, I could not find an affordable place that fit my criteria.  I was usually so lucky with that sort of stuff!  But, in this case, I was blocked, frustrated, and feeling like my move to LA may not have been such a good idea after all.

Not willing to give in so easily (I really, really wanted to be a screenwriter), I educated my open-minded roommate on what I knew of feng shui.  If I wasn't going to live at the beach, at least I could make the apartment we shared as high energy as possible.  I suggested we paint like crazy -- the kitchen, the bathroom, the front door, and the bedrooms.  

Source

It took a couple of sleepless nights, but the two of us put on some music, chatted, laughed, and busted it out.  The kitchen went from bland cream to sunny yellow; the bathroom took on a fun turquoise hue; and the front door became -- you guessed it -- the famous red.  

It totally transformed the place.   

We absolutely loved it.

And wallah!  Not even a week later I received an out-of-the-blue email from a friend who said she knew some people who were looking for a roommate in Venice...a five-minute bike ride to the beach.  

I went to check it out, and it was happy-Venice-bungalow-awesome.  The girls and I hit it off, and within two weeks, I was in my new home by the beach!  

So what happened?  It's simple.  I surrendered.  And I took action.  By painting the apartment (a very real feng shui cure), I told the Universe:  Thank you!  I'm going to make the best of what I've got! ...and I'm committed to giving this LA thing a shot.   

And the Universe said Thank You right back.  

So, no, feng shui is not about perfection.  It's not even about obtaining your dream home.

Instead, feng shui is about creating a safe or inspiring or loving space with what you have right now.  It's about loving yourself and your life, as it is, right now!

And watching how the Universe responds, in kind...

So, no, my home is not my dream home, but it is feng shui'd... and it's imperfectly dreamy that way!