In a Feng Shui consultation clients will often be ready to move their furniture around to change out the energy of their spaces.  They may be eager to paint, or change the layout of a room or even its purpose but sometimes they’re surprised when I ask them to tell me about their artwork.   What’s the best Feng Shui artwork?  It depends on you.  What’s on the walls is as important as what is in the room.

A couple kissing is a great painting for a master bedroom.

Here’s what we know about Feng Shui:  all things are alive with energy, all things are connected and all things are constantly changing.  Your artwork, along with your furnishings and accessories, is connected to you and reflects who you are.  Another way of saying this in Feng Shui lingo is:  environment mirrors consciousness.  Artwork speaks loudly and says a lot about you.   Here are some responses I’ve heard when I’ve asked clients to tell me about a particular piece of art:

• My mom gave it to me when I was a kid.
• I put that there because it fits.
• The colors match my couch.
• It was there from the last tenant.
• I don’t know what it’s doing there.
• I’ve never liked it but I don’t have anything else to put there.
• The salesperson said it would look good.

Sound familiar?  Most people have art on the wall that the above could be said about!

Your home is your sanctuary.  You get to decide what you live with, what you love and what you want out of life.  Your home and environment can help you reflect out to the world who you are and want to be, not who a family member or a salesperson thinks you are.   Here’s what to do:  select and display art that

• Makes your heart glad
• You selected for the space (even if it’s a gift, you don’t have to display it)
• Reflects who you are and/or want to become
• Fits the space
• Holds intention

That piece of art your mom gave you may still make you happy or you may have outgrown it – only you know the answer to that question.  If it no longer serves you, give it away to someone who will appreciate it, or put it in the guest room so it can make her glad when she visits.  It makes sense to place artwork that fits a space but make sure that the piece also fits you! A classic Feng Shui example of artwork not mirroring intention is when a single man or woman, who wants to have a life partner, displays art that showcases one person instead of two. And, be emboldened to put some art away and leave other pieces out; move art around and change it out to suit your nature, the seasons, or simply to be able to see it again.  Sometimes when something has been displayed in the same place for a while we no longer notice it – a recipe for stagnant energy.

Feng Shui reminds us to not only to be conscious of our surroundings but also to connect to them; be healthy, peaceful, balanced and joyful in them.   Does your artwork make you feel that way?

Enhance your romance with a Thriving Spaces Feng Shui Valentine:  a 2-hour Feng Shui consultation with a focus on the love quadrants of your spaces, and a Feng Shui gift in celebration of your special valentine.  This Valentine’s Day 2012 promotion is $125 and includes the 2-hour Feng Shui consultation (a 20% discount) and “romance review” of your space along with a 2012 calendar of Feng Shui tips anda special Feng Shui valentine gift.  Give this to a loved one, or consider giving it to yourself – to boost the romance in your life!  This promotion is good through February 29, 2012; of course, once purchased, the consultation can be scheduled whenever it is convenient for you (there is no expiration date.)

Placing things in twos enhances romance!

Valentine’s Day is just that:  one day to celebrate love but a Thriving Spaces Feng Shui Valentine gift consultation can enhance your romance for a lifetime!  For more information, please contact lwgrillo@thrivingspaces.com.

I often use photos in my workshops to illustrate Feng Shui principles.  Two of my favorites are of the palm tree and the garbage dump.  I ask my students to imagine standing on the edge of a beautiful empty beach framed by a palm tree or standing on the edge of a large garbage dump. “Do you feel different in each of these environments?,”  I ask them.  Ah, yeah, is the usual response.  That’s because according to Feng Shui principles everything is alive with energy, everything is connected and everything is changing.  We are connected energetically to our environments by how we feel in them, what we do in them, how we interact with them and what could happen when we are there.   And, if we don’t like those environments – like that garbage dump – we can change them.

Palm tree frames beach

My workshop illustration came to life for me when my family and I visited southern California a few weeks back. We collected our bags at the airport and stepped outside into the warm air after leaving cold Denver two hours before and were greeted by a long row of palm trees.   I literally gasped with joy.  Another way of thinking about being connected to our environments is to imagine them talking to us, and boy, do I love what palm trees have to say to me:  Lorrie, you’re on VACATION!

Little did I know that we were on our way to a garbage dump.

Garbage dump

No, we did not actually visit a garbage dump so I could make a point to my family about Feng Shui (they would not have appreciated that.)   But we did visit a place where the over-consumption of modern life littered the landscape for as far as the eye could see:  we were stopped in traffic on the 405.  Eight lanes of cars laid out bumper-to-bumper inching along in both directions.  Ok, so the 405 is not a garbage dump per se (the cars were way too nice, for one thing) but certainly our environment was no longer saying vacation, at least until we got to our hotel and jumped into the pool.

Environment mirrors consciousness because we are so connected to what surrounds us.  You can choose how you feel in your environment by placing things in your everyday spaces to create the energy you want.   Look around you right now to see and “hear” what your environment is saying to you.  And here’s a metaphorical question:  Are you standing on a beach or standing next to a garbage dump?  A messy desk can feel like a dumping site.  An organized space framed with a few things you love can feel like a space open to possibilities, maybe a little like an open beach framed by palm trees.   Feng Shui reminds us that when we carefully choose what surrounds us we can create a personal paradise in our homes and workspaces.

Feng Shui also says when you find yourself stuck, whether its in traffic or life, remember that everything is changing and just like me on the 405, when you keep your eye on your goal and use your environment to help you, you’ll get there eventually.