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My Front Door is Summer Ready Using the 5 Elements of Feng Shui

Michelle Cromer August 1, 2022 1 Comment

The front door is critically important in Feng Shui, it represents our careers and life journeys. It’s called the mouth of the dragon and it’s the entry point to all the energy that flows into our space.

Paint your door a color you love, I like pink representing the fire element.

Use jade plants to symbolize wealth and the earth element. I have a black mat and a blue mailbox, both representing the water element.

My grey planters represent the metal element and my front door is wood, representing the wood element. I have a greeter, a turtle, to welcome the energy and guests, and it is facing towards the door, the way the energy flows.

And finally, if you are looking for a new love, a fresh start, or a successful career, then leave your light on, lighting the way for opportunities of all kinds.

Summer is a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can be. Happy Summer!

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color!

6 Ways to Feng Shui Your Backyard for Summer

Michelle Cromer July 18, 2022 Leave a Comment

The guiding principle should be fresh, neat, colorful and peaceful which anyone can achieve. The patio, deck, rooftop, or backyard is where most of your time will be spent during the next couple of months, so you might as well make it a place of peaceful balance and harmony. Below are six tips for bringing some feng shui to your own personal great outdoors.

Tap into the Elements – feng shui consists of five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Water is a symbol of wealth and any garden or yard should include a pond, swimming pool, or waterfall. The waterfall symbolizes the continual replenishment of that wealth. Rocks represent earth and they have a grounding energy. Wood is in the trees and landscaping. Metal promotes conversation and fire is for passion.
Harmonize paint colors. Choose colors that harmoniously blend in the with elements, however, they need to stand out to attract positive energy.
When you’re planting your flowers, be sure to include purple or blue varieties for wealth, and white, pink, and red flowers for romance and marriage. If you have a fence, red, green, or black paint colors are the best choices, as they are considered lucky.
Boundaries and natural fencing are important to keep out bad energy and nice. A natural fence could be a row of shrubs or trees along your property line. For a more secure boundary, you can install an artificial fence and decorate it with green plants and flowers.
Wind chimes or flags increase the flow of chi creating balance in your yard and making it comfortable and a welcoming environment for your guests. They are believed to produce healing energy.
My backyard happens to be my love section in the Bagua or the energy map so I make sure I have a lot of twos like the two tables and the two goddess sculptures and flowers arrangements are in even numbers.

The guiding principle should be fresh, neat, colorful, and peaceful which anyone can achieve.

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Setting Up an Effective Remote Office Using Feng Shui

Michelle Cromer July 11, 2022 Leave a Comment

The new post-pandemic normal is working remotely at home, being socially distanced from colleagues, and quickly adapting to work technologies is not a choice but a necessity. Research estimates that one in four Americans, over 26% of the American workforce, continues to work from home. And, for geographically dispersed teams, setting up an effective home office is critical.

Also critical is having clear work boundaries to balance stress levels. Lacking a designated space for career tasks may make you easily distracted and unmotivated to work.

Whether you are setting up a new workspace or looking to refresh your existing space, here are a few feng shui do and don’ts for optimizing your home office.

Some things not to do:

Don’t work from your bed or couch. Having a dedicated desk will represent a stable career.
Don’t work while watching TV, or listening to a podcast. This will distract from your focus.
Don’t have a cluttered space; this will stop the flow of chi.
Don’t work in a space you don’t like.

Some things to do:

Do have a solid wall behind you to feel supported.
Do add a mirror to give a sense of expansion, make it brighter and it can help with creativity.
Do put artwork behind you that represents the support and strength in your career or your support system. That could be a mountain, or your family and friends.
Do place artwork across from your desk that inspires you. Perhaps a place you want to go to or something you are working for like a particular trip or new house. I like to have a sun photo or painting across from me symbolically shining the light on my work.
Do invite nature in with live plants.
Do have your desk in a power commanding position, one that faces the entry door. This will allow you to feel more in control of your life and your career.
Do get rid of clutter to symbolically unblock any ideas and potential. This will increase your flow.
Do use colors you love that will inspire you. Choose a color you’re drawn to, or pick one according to the element that you want to invite in:
- Water element: Black for intuition, wisdom, and social connections
- Wood element: Green or blue for growth, new beginnings, and rejuvenation
- Earth element: Yellow or brown for nourishment, boundaries, and support
- Metal element: White for precision, organization, and beauty
- Fire element: Red for inspiration, passion, and recognition

desk in a power commanding position

Our homes are as unique as the individuals who live in them. And I hope these tips help you to feel more prosperous, creative, and full of chi as you work from your home space.

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Feng Shui Superstitions versus Symbolism

Michelle Cromer July 4, 2022 Leave a Comment

Decades ago, as Feng Shui swept through the United States from China; many misinterpretations were swept along with it. This homogenized version of Feng Shui has somehow adapted mixtures of superstition and folklore, none of which have anything to do with living in balance or harmony, a central principle of Feng Shui. Unfortunately, these superstitions have found quite an audience because they promise quick and simple results.

However, when I studied Feng Shui in Tibet and China I quickly learned how deep superstitions were embedded in Chinese culture as well. For example not only did airlines and airports routinely skip a 4th isle or 4th gate, but more than 90% of high-rise buildings all over the country lack a 4th floor. You won’t find a room number four, a license plate that ends in four, or a phone number or home address that ends in the number four. This number is considered unlucky because it sounds a lot like the Chinese word for death.

In the United States, we have developed our own irrational superstitious beliefs: the number 13 is bad luck; we “knock on wood” to ward off bad luck; if we break a mirror we have seven years of bad luck; walking under a ladder is bad luck but if you find a penny and pick it up, “all the day long you’ll have good luck.”

Unlike superstition, symbolism has the power to bring the mind and the heart together and connect us to the deepest truths of life, and that is why I use the language of symbolism in my Feng Shui practice.

Symbolism is the idea that things represent other things. Let’s look at the color red – in Feng Shui red isn’t just the color itself, but something beyond it: passion, love, or devotion. To others, it might represent blood or it could mean stop. In other words, red can mean anything you want it to mean. In other words, it means everything. Or, it means nothing, because you can assign any kind of symbolic interpretation to it, with no special quality.

Symbols and symbolism were created as a way to comprehend something, and over 8,000 years ago, a double-headed eagle motif was the oldest symbol known to humans. It was symbolic of the foundation of a city.

It is symbolism that is the basis of thinking, and the major difference between human beings and other life forms on Earth (at least, so far as we know. Who can tell what a whale or a dolphin does to store impressions, or what great, slow thoughts a sequoia indulges in while living through the centuries). Humans not only manipulate symbols but create symbols as well.

Symbolism is an interactive practice, requiring the discernment of humans to flesh out meanings according to his/her own perspective at the time of interpretation. Superstition asks no such thing of us.

The choice is yours, you can go the quick-and-easy route, the route requiring little to no effort on your part – a pat answer typically based upon fear-driven concepts, then let superstitions be your guide.

If, however, you find yourself to be more refined, more evolved, and so require a sophisticated approach to interpreting uncommon events in your life – an approach that encourages expanded perception, open-mindedness, and soulful sensitivity – then symbolism is the right choice.

Symbolism	Superstition
Relies heavily on logic	Feeds on ignorance
Encourages independent and critical thinking	Encourages no thought, blind acceptance
Encourages anthropological/cultural research for greater understanding	Requires no understanding or research, concepts taken at face-value
Requires interpretation and exploration from the observer	Must be accepted as truth or fact without substantiation
Offers insight according to the observer’s needs	The meaning is never changes
Lends itself to the improvement of the human condition	Perpetuates fear

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

The Miracle in Iceland

Michelle Cromer June 27, 2022 Leave a Comment

The Miracle in Iceland

Myself in Iceland

Traveling is the healthiest addiction. Every trip I take, and every new person I meet is a new adventure pulling me deeper into the love of the unknown. My heart hurts when I’m standing still for too long.

When I got melanoma skin cancer six years ago one of my doctors suggested that I make a travel bucket list. The last destination on my list was Iceland, so I decided to go to the land of my Viking ancestors.

Since this was a science expedition boat, I had to check-in, get a Covid test, go through all the safety regulations and get fitted for my winter gear, and report to the powers that be that Olga will be delayed. However, when I went to the meeting area and met the person in charge, I was told if Olga didn’t get on the ship at Reykjavik, where the ship was docked, then she wouldn’t be able to get on at all. Further, if I got on the ship without Olga, I would not be able to get off to meet her at any of our stops.

Because I am forgetting so many things from past trips; delicious meals, landscapes, conversations on balconies under the canopy of stars, insights, theater, scenes in distant cities, moments I swore I would remember forever, so many washed away like Etch A Sketch drawings. So while packing for this adventure I promised myself to have more of a balance in recalling the magic.

When arrived on a bright, freezing summer day in the capital city of Reykjavik, I discovered that there is nothing quite as humbling as standing on the land where my ancestors once lived. This reminded me that I am the result of a thousand sacrifices and of a thousand loves.

Each trip I take seems to be defined by a single moment, and those moments always involve a person. I randomly hired a driver who happened to be a man named Marius. He picked me up from the Reykjavik airport and showed me around while I waited on my fellow explorer and dear friend Olga to arrive.

Olga

There was kindness in Marius’s smile and gentleness. It was the smile of a man who laughed with ease. His stunning eyes were the blue color in the middle of a Bic lighter. He too came from Vikings and our day was spent walking through history.
Unfortunately, Olga ended up missing her connection in New York, due to a flight delay in Miami, which meant she would miss boarding the ship on the embarkment day. We both thought that this was no big deal and felt she could board at our first stop the following day.

Marius was carrying in my bag and overheard everything. I went into action calling the boat captain, the company, and our insurance provider. Two hours later, no one could help. Marius never left my side. As I bowed my head in defeat, knowing I wouldn’t get on the boat without Olga and knowing we would lose all the money we spent, Marius softly put his arms around me, bent down, and quietly said, “Let me see if I can help you.”

Touring Iceland with Olga

In less than five minutes he came back and told me that the company will make an exception and that Olga could join the boat from anywhere at any time. I don’t know whom Marius called or how he did it, but Olga happily arrived and boarded the ship the following day at our first stop.

I most likely will never see Marius again but his unselfish kindness will be a part of me forever. I realized in Iceland that sometimes miracles are good people with kind hearts. I also realized that it is time for me to make a new bucket list!

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

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