the “cents” and sensibility of shui
it’s not uncommon for someone to “worry” that if they hire me or start learning shui, I might encourage them to replace or change “everything” in their space.
and my response is always the same:
Feng Shui is a conversation about harmonizing the energy around you with the energy within you – and most times, this work doesn’t require a shopping list. so, even though shui is design-adjacent, it is not design-based.
in my experience, shui usually involves the kind of changes people don’t typically OOOH and AAAH over, and there is no guarantee you’ll immediately have something to *show* for your investment (time, effort, money).
however – and I don’t think enough emphasis is placed on this aspect – shui is generous with its options for creating palpable change in our lives that are not cost-dependent or stylistically driven. and speaking personally, this was something I absolutely appreciated when I started out on my own shui journey and didn’t have a design budget or spending wiggle room.
I’ve shared them here, but if you’re curious about a few of those first “free” changes we made in our home…
I LOVED up on our front door, wiping down the hardware, shaking out the mat, and increasing the porch lights wattage.
I added doses of purple – the color shui associates with wealth – to our kitchen (which happens to be in our Wealth area). I put purple Sharpies in a drawer; I kept African violets on the dining table; and I taped purple construction paper on the underneath side of our kitchen table (a tip I learned here).
we replaced burned out lightbulbs around and outside the house.
we pruned our front yard and removed a rose bush that was near our front door.
we donated a few pieces of furniture that didn’t quite “fit” the new house.
we arranged our office so both our desks were in command.
in fact, there were only two things I bought in those first few months: fresh flowers and a tabletop water fountain.
after several months of putting honest effort into it, I couldn’t help noticing there was a distinct connection between our environment and how the changes were invigorating our lives. even better? change after change, I felt myself enjoying the process more, which led to doing more shui, which generated even more results, which kept my momentum going.
that’s what working with shui feels like…it’s more sensibility than “cents.”
so, if wandering into the world of shui has you “worried” it might be an additional expense to the list of things already competing for your resources, know this:
working with shui won’t require that you have a budget for costlier aesthetic or cosmetic changes in your home. instead, it is simply an invitation to begin elevating the energy around and within you because…
when our home feels better, we feel better, too, and that sense of well-being influences EVERYTHING, including the kind of opportunities that show up for us and our availability to welcome and take advantage of those delightfully unexpected changes! xo
