The Perfectly Imperfect Feng Shui Life
As I headed outside this morning to try to get the mowing done before impending weekend storms hampered any outdoor clean up, I mentally was going through my long checklist of things to get done. Emails to send, contacts to make, updates and web pages…phew, you get the gist. I was actually kind of cursing having to mow. “I have too much to do!”
Then, I rounded the corner to the front of the house where part of our career gua is outside in the yard. [GASP, I know. But some of us bought our house decades ago, before we even had a glint of what Feng Shui is all about.]
Checking that mental “work-to-do list,” I looked over and noticed the weeds first.
In. My. Career. Flower bed.
And then, the bird bath. Crap; empty and dirty.
Was good career Feng Shui going to happen by leaving that and dashing inside for those all-important-emails? Or was it better to take the time to “tend my own garden” so to speak.
It got me thinking of a conversation from a few days ago, with a dear friend who is also a practitioner and lover of Feng Shui…she felt one of the troubles of our industry, is that none of us want to share our own spaces. It’s not personal enough; we don’t share enough of ourselves for fear of competition. [Duh, it’s Feng Shui people; stop that!] Many popular bloggers or instagramers are sharing everything they do in their own house and that’s what makes them so relatable and sharable and watchable [I’m not even sure those are all words, but you get what I am talking about]. How many of us in Feng Shui do that? Not many.
We seem to be all about: watching the other person, the client, imparting wisdom, and the dang perfect photo or quote to share – the perfect Instagram shot that’s been filtered and lightened and juiced up. But we aren’t about ourselves.
Afraid to show that you might have something wrong in your space and need to fix it, that sometimes your own Feng Shui eyes get clouded and you need a fresh look…does that mean a potential client might not hire you. Gosh, I hope not. I believe there is an abundance of clients and we all resonate with those who are meant to find us. [That being said, this is still a business, so get yourself out there and get cracking on your business goals. It doesn’t happen by sitting on your bum simply loving the magic of Feng Shui.]
I have thought about this conversation with my friend for a few days, and I actually take it one step further. And maybe I will shoot myself in the foot and you will all think, “wow, she’s a mess.” But, here’s where my mind goes…
Maybe it’s also about sharing our vulnerabilities.
That we are good at what we do BECAUSE of [not in spite of] the things we have going (or not going) in our own “proverbial house.” So………here’s me:
I tend to think of Feng Shui as not having a lot of shoulds – EXCEPT THE TOILET. CLOSE THE LID FOR GOODNESS SAKE. That’s a should. My training at the Western School of Feng Shui taught me a concept that works for me – there aren’t really any bad spaces; just less-than-excellent spaces. So, I use that phrase a lot.
Yep, my career gua is partially in the yard. I’ve got a flower bed with bird bath, flowers and evergreens, and a wind chime. We have plans for some other enhancements in the future.
My wealth gua contains a bathroom. [Don’t email me. I know. Less-than-excellent. But as a Feng Shui practitioner, I know there are things I can do; and moving this bathroom would be a huge pain and maybe even stupid. And I am not going to move over it.]
Are there beautiful things I would love to have in my house? Had my eye on a natural crystal or two? Yes. But I also live with small clumsy people [cough cough kids] so sometimes practicality has to factor in. How else can I do it? You gotta be creative sometimes.
I have networking friends who have talked about meditation being really great first thing in the morning. But with a feisty 6th grader who needs to get on the bus, that’s probably not going to happen at this stage of my life. But sometime.
Would I love to have a rectangular house to make the bagua that much easier? You bet. But I don’t. I can still embrace where I live.
Do I wish the projects in my house were all done. Oh yeah. But they aren’t…Yet. It’s a work in progress.
For me, I love my 2 acres. I love the nature that comes to my door such as deer (my spirit animal), birds, rabbits and squirrels; and just recently, I saw a bald eagle on the lake as I was driving down the block from my house out of the neighborhood. Swoon. These things make me happy.
So, today, I’m doing Feng Shui my way.
I am taking a few minutes [after mowing – sigh – and before the emails begin] to clean out that bird bath and weed my career. I am going to fill the bird feeders that sit outside my Fame and Reputation that I see from my desk; wildlife and animals are terrific fire element enhancements. And that’s ok. I will do what I can and what is best for ME and my career, right now, today.
That is good Feng Shui. To me and for me.
Different than yours? Maybe.
But that’s ok. It really is.
Change happens. Embrace it or move with it finding ways to adapt.
Weeds do grow (faster than should be allowed). Pull them out.
Things break. Fix them.
Being vulnerable and messy is ok.
It’s not a one and done…remind your clients of this too! Feng Shui is a living, breathing love of our lives. You gotta keep working it.
Above all…
Give yourself grace. Showing your scars demonstrates that you know what you are talking about. You’ve lived it. You live it. You love it. Tell your story.
Deb Dermyer Lamb is a wife, mother, feng shui practitioner, former accountant and civil engineer, and still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. She’s been the office administrator for the IFSG since 2007 and loves, loves, loves that part of her life. IFSG members are everything to her. She’s also the current IFSG CEO, since 2017, and previously served on the Board of Directors from 2006 through 2011.
Give her a shout if you have questions about the IFSG, or want to share your messes.
