Friday, March 13, 2009

Feng Shui Friday: Career


Octagon graphic, Bartett Designs
What does a romance/erotic author know about Feng Shui? Early on in my writing career I discovered this ancient Chinese art as a means to organize my desk space. The impressive results prompted me to employ this art well beyond my novel writing, and a dozen years later I've applied Feng Shui to every area of my home. Every Friday I'll share tips to help bring positive energy to YOUR writing...and life. I'll begin by introducing the nine main zones of a house as defined by Feng Shui.

This week: The Career Area (front wall)


Imagine flipping the octagonal diagram so the Career line sits along the front wall where the main entry door to your home or room is located. Energy flowing in this area is believed to be especially responsive to helping or hindering career goals. Take a look at that front wall and see whether the space is affected by any typical factors that blocks chi (natural occurring, life-giving energy), such as:
*Clutter
*Poor/no lighting
*Dirt (front entry ways tend to track in a lot)
*Lack of vital purposing (dead space)


Front walls are notorious for dead space and clutter, especially near entryways where papers, books, mail, shoes, etc. get dropped off and dirt gets tracked in.

Career Area Fixer-Uppers:


1. Clean it up. Clear the cobwebs, bid dust bunnies farewell. Get rid of the stacks of mail and piles of galoshes and briefcases in the front hall.

2. Light it up.
If lighting is sparse, add a decent lamp.

3. Dress it up.
The Career area's natural element is water, so a fountain or water feature is useful here. Good color choices are black and dark blue. Wood is appropriate in this area. Wavy shapes (representing water) in your décor can also be helpful.

4. Fix it up. Candles or a fireplace contributing light or ambiance? Nope. Having fire elements in a natural water zone creates undesired enmity. Pottery—clay, representing earth—is also an issue, as earth elements can “dam up” flowing water energy. To cure this, move candles, pots, and statuary. If you have a fireplace, consider placing a fountain inside, or use décor and colors to cure it and make sure to add a water feature somewhere in the zone (water globe on the mantel?).

Here's my Career area, or rather the portion dedicated to activating my writing career. Note the use of black, and snow globes as a water feature. The images inside these are pretend “book covers” I did up for works in progress. The faux stone in the center reads “Inspire” and yes, rock is an earth element which isn't ideal. To negate/balance this, I surrounded the stone with color and water cures to allow just the powerful message to shine through. This was a great addition, as two days after adding it I was able to finish a book without difficulty that I'd fought with for months.

Regardless of whether you simply sweep your entry way or go all out and install a giant wall-mounted fountain, the most important technique when performing any Feng Shui cure is to do it with intention. Don't just sweep; realize you're removing blocked chi from your career path. Don't just slap in a fish bowl; see positive energy flowing like water to move your career goals forward.


Time for me to get back to romance writing. I hope you've enjoyed Feng Shui Friday. Have a Career area tip or dilemma to share? Please post in the comments! Until next time, may you find the magic within that unleashes all YOUR career goals!
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5 comments:

Helen Ginger said...

Very interesting. I know nothing about this. Our entry area does have wood & color & paintings with water. But it does get dirty from people going in and out. Will vacuum it more often.
Helen
http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com

cornelia amiri said...

This is wonderful article, very helpful. I definitely need to remove the clutter from my writing area and revamp it by adding candles and a water element.

Lisa Logan said...

Helen, sounds like you've got a leg up on your Career area already! That's great.

Cornelia brings up an important point. The feng shui octagon can be applied to a house, a single room, or a desk/table top in your office. By placing fire and water elements in their "natural" location within the writing area, Cornelia can bring some very focused energy to her work. Good luck!

Myst Bloodstone said...

My desk is cluttered to hades. It's about the only storage space I have left around here. I already have tons boxed up. Suggestions?

Lisa Logan said...

Sounds familiar, Myst! Desk clutter is why I turned to Feng Shui in the first place, and I have to redo my desk periodically because clutter "creeps" back.

I'll be covering desks later in the series, but a great first step is to clear energy by eliminating clutter from your desk and stored boxes. We tend to keep things we don't TRULY need. Give away/recycle/toss as much as possible, then use the gained storage for desk items you do really need, but don't fit.

Good luck!