Nine Feng Shui Tips For Small Spaces

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With so many of us downsizing and moving into smaller spaces, here are nine Feng Shui tips to help you in your small spaces.

1. Use The Front Door:
The front door is the entryway to bring in good chi (life energy), balance and harmony. Make sure the area is clutter free. Place a well-maintained doormat at the front door welcoming the chi. Make sure this area is well lit and honor this space by using the front door every day.

2. Declutter:
Small spaces can develop clutter quickly. Be mindful of any objects on the floor that do not belong such as boxes or books, these objects will stagnant the energy flow. Closets represent hidden areas in your life so clean those out in order to bring clarity to all aspects of your life.

3. Clean Under the Bed:
To ensure a restful sleep clear out anything that is under your bed. Storing items under the bed will block the energy flow and can represent blocks in your relationships.

4. Live Plants:
Bring in healthy, live plants into your small space. These plants enhance the wood element and symbolize new beginnings and enhance family relationships.

5. Clean and Replace Light Bulbs:
Light blubs represent passion, the fire element so make sure they are clean and working. Turing on light bulbs can light the way for love or new business opportunities.

6. Use the Burners on Your Stove Daily:
No matter how small your kitchen might be it represents health and abundance. The preparation of food is a sacred act and the stove represents life force and nourishment, but it is also an energy generator. Use all the burners every day. Only using one or two burners may suggest that you are not activating the full potential of abundance available to you.

7. Place a Bowl of Nine Oranges in Your Kitchen:
Oranges stimulate the mind and improve your mood. Symbolically the orange represents gold and will improve your cash flow.

8. Move Nine Objects Around:
Nine is an auspicious number in Feng Shui, so moving nine objects in your small space will stir up the chi in your home. There is not an object too small or big to move, and just moving an object slightly will make a difference.

9. Space Clearing:
The air in small spaces tends to become stagnant. Open up all the windows and doors and burn incense or sage throughout the house. The fresh air will clear out any stress and negativity.

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

Developing a Relationship with the Impossible

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It seems to be our mutual fate to be living during a time of great upheaval and sweeping crisis. The glue that once held our society together is dissolving. Many of us are stranded, trying to fathom what our lives mean after all the difficulties we have gone through. We are left standing in the rubble after a hurricane or trying to pick up the pieces after a divorce. We are not able to control the forces or people that cause suffering, but we can determine what the pain and suffering do to us and what we become because of it. The answers are within us, not outside of us, and those answers will give us insight into what’s next for us and give us the hope to go on.

All shamans, mystics, Buddha, yogis and saints have said the same thing: answers to our questions come from looking within and in our stillness we find hope.

But hope is just a starting point. It’s where we dialog with the Muses and wonder about what could be and what if. Hope is a magical ingredient that stirs up and animates the impossible in our lives.

Developing a relationship with the impossible requires effort and energy. Once connected to the impossible, an emotional and psychic bond is formed with that reality. It’s like any meaningful personal relationship; it’s intimate and alive, and nourishing to your inner senses. A dialogue between you and the impossible is the merging of a unique vision and it is the same thing as having a download of grace rush through your system. In an instant, it penetrates into your intellect, your emotions, your mind and your vocabulary. This new symbolic content shifts your understanding of the cosmos. You can feel the power of the impossible take hold of you as it runs through your blood like a new drug, making it’s way to your neurology. The download is complete and it’s yours and you are on a high that is unexplainable to anyone who has never been swept away by the thrill of contact with the realm of the impossible. This is a love affair unlike anything on earth because it isn’t of the earth. But soon it will be – that becomes the task, as you are the vessel for the impossible. But as this container, you need to be someone who can handle being misunderstood or be able to keep your own company because others cannot see or comprehend the impossible. You need to be strong enough to believe something only you can see or understand – for a long, long time. Most people cannot stand alone in the demanding realm of the impossible. So, they live in the lesser world of fantasies and musings and unfulfilled hopeful wishes. And that is the hard truth of life.

Understand that you form a working relationship to the impossible, and just wishing and hoping is not enough. You have to act. You have to bring forth the impossible and give it life. The impossible requires vigilance and dedicated attention and constant courageous choices as well as a willingness to allow your life to change in impossible directions. People continually approach life with habitual attitudes while expecting outcomes to be different. Changing your relationship to the impossible means awakening to some other way of being. Not simply doing things differently, but becoming a different person, both more aware and more alert in life. Such an individual awakening doesn’t just happen; an immersion of sorts is required as well as a genuine reflection that allows the possibility of the impossible to rise to the surface. The baptism takes place under the water and no one actually sees the change that occurs.

There are the subtleties and surprises on any path and only after traveling far can we hear and understand. At the far end of our waking and walking, of our worrying and working, when we realize that there are no shortcuts, it is in the willingness to surrender that allows the pilgrimage to the self to being and the willingness to be vulnerable that allows the impossible to be reached. The impossible happens on the level of the gesture. It’s one person doing one thing differently than he or she did before. It’s the man who opts not to invite his abusive mother to his wedding; the woman who decides to spend her Saturday mornings in a drawing class instead of scrubbing toilets at home; the parent who takes a deep breath instead of throwing a plate. The impossible is there. It’s our task. Doing the impossible will give us clarity and strength. It will bring us closer to whom we hope to be.

Developing a relationship to the impossible kicked my butt five ways from Sunday. But when the troubles get deep enough, when the problems become greater than us, when the weight of the world is on our shoulders, the impossible can offer more ways to proceed that the more narrow paths of logic and reason. For there is thought in the heart and it is connected to the deeper power of humanity, the power of the impossible.

The Need for Hope

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The zombie apocalypse is imminent. Or so it seems since we have already had earthquakes, hurricanes, melting ice caps, famine and pestilence and that is just what happened recently!

It appears to be our entire mutual fate to be living during a time of great upheaval and sweeping change. When the story of the world becomes less clear it is the unfolding of the inner life that might provide the best way to proceed. The telling of myths, folk tales and fairy tales became a source in my Scot Irish family as a way to face great obstacles and impossible tasks because the examples of the heroines and heroes and the hope they seemed to always have. In every case, something goes terribly wrong – but something even bigger goes right.

The origin myth of Pandora’s box, written by Hesiod in about 800 B.C., is one of my favorites because it was one way to explain how all the evils came about in the world. Zeus gives a wedding present, a box, to Pandora, the first mortal woman on earth. Zeus does not tell Pandora what is in the box, but gives her strict instructions not to open it. What a set up! Somehow Pandora manages to wait a year, at which point her curiosity gets the best of her, and she opens the box. The lid flies open and all the evils and miseries of the world bolt out: hate, violence, sorrow, ignorance, jealousy, and sadness. Pandora manages to shut the box, leaving only Hope who is hiding under the lid. This old myth teaches us that all the ills and ailments, all the scandals and betrayals and the rampant dishonesty must be faced before the hidden hope of life can be found again. It’s as if things must become hopeless before a deeper sense of hope can return from the depths of the human heart. This level of hope includes a darker knowledge of the world and a sharper insight into one’s own soul.

Hope is found, not by clinging to old dreams or by denying despair, but by surviving it. When life becomes darkest the eye of the soul begins to see. “Hope springs eternal” when people begin to see beyond the parade of facts and the litanies of ideologies and learn to trust the deeper values of individual life as well as the underlying truths of human culture. Great crises are not solved by simply conserving assets, but by finding inner resources that are hidden from sight.

All shamans, mystics, Buddha, yogis and saints have said the same thing: answers to our questions come from looking within and in our stillness we find hope.

Hope is a bright star in a hopelessly dark universe. Through light years of distance, the brightness fills our inner selves. Hope is not just an emotion; it is a promise that smiling and laughter are just around the corner. When the fighter has been laid on the canvas by a well placed right to the jaw, hope is there saying, “Get up. Take a nine count if you must, but be ready to stand, and have the ref dust off your gloves. You’re going to win this match.” Hope is drawn to the person who sees beyond the present defeat, beyond the moment of being cast down, beyond the loss of the job, and beyond the negative words of hopeless voices. There is that voice from the “bright star” telling us to look beyond the darkness – to the bright light of hope.

In the end, Pandora hears a faint voice in the box and when she lifts the lid she finds hope, releasing it into the world. And everywhere evil goes, hope goes too. And all that is touched by evil – so too is touched by hope.

For the Love of Numbers

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I have had a life long love affair with numbers. One of my first memories is learning how to count by holding up my fingers. I remember squealing in delight with each correct answer. When it was time to figure out what to do with my life, I knew whatever I did, it would involve numbers. So one of my majors is in finance and I went on to study finance at New York University.

Numbers or symbols used for counting have existed since man learned to count. Archaeologists and historians estimate that numbers were first used around 32,000 years ago! Archaeological findings have discovered bones and rocks with marks on them, most likely counting to keep track of food quantities.

Numerology is the practice of interpreting the deeper energy of a number and utilizing that vibe for optimal understanding and alignment. Numbers in Feng Shui are divided up into Yin or Yang. Yin are all even and yang are all odd. Both maintain the much needed balance we all seek.

While studying Feng Shui in China I quickly learned of the superstitions they have surrounding numbers and choosing telephone numbers, house numbers and business numbers are done so very carefully. Nothing can end in the number “4” for example because it sounds like death, (Sel) and is considered the worst of all numbers. There are no fourth floors on any of the buildings or hotels for this reason.

Numbers immediately reveal to me the overall Chi of the home or office. I use a process called the reduction in that I determine the prime root number of your home address. Here’s how you do it: Take your street address and add all the numbers together. For example, 3015 would be 3+0+1+5= 9 so 9 is the single-digit prime root number. If your address is 4745 then you add up 4+7+4+6=21. In the case of a double digit you add those two numbers together so 2+1=3, so the prime number is 3.

Below is a guide to what your address means:

  1. The number one is about new beginnings. Since this is a solitary number, incorporating pairs in your home will be important for balance. So two candles on the table or two photos hung together etc. The number one is masculine so incorporating yin energy will balance out the home – add a water feature or make sure the home has fresh flowers.
  2. The number two encourages balance and partnerships of all kinds. It is a yin number or energy so hang a silver wind chime to balance the chi.
  3. The number three rules creation and creativity. It’s a good number for manifestation, so be careful what you wish for in a three home. Add a green plant to attract wealth and luck and make sure to change the water when needed so it is always clear, bringing clarity to the space.
  4. The number four is about structure. Think of four pillars in a house. The downside of this number is that you may get a sense of rigidity under your roof. Add a symbol of a dragon to introduce spontaneity in this space.
  5. The number five is change, always seeking to balance itself. Find a sun and moon symbol and hang it up. The union between these two energies will offer balance and stability. The sun is Yang – male and the moon is Yin –female. These are ancient archetypes for perfect harmony.
  6. The number six is the number of service, and it’s a nurturing number. The flip side to this number is an overacting energy. To balance this space, hang a crystal to boost the chi and eradicate the overacting energy.
  7. The number seven is the number of higher education and serious study of oneself. This is a wonderful space to learn new things and explore new topics. Also the perfect number for introspective and meditation. If the Chi is not balanced it can produce a hermit type quality. A photo or painting of mountains will help balance the Chi. Also lighting candles will serve to energetically illuminate you.
  8. The number eight represents the realm of the infinite and is considered a great number for the emotional flow of the space. The flip side of this number is stagnation, anxiety and lack of motivation. Add a photo or a statue of a lotus. This will represent enlightenment, progress and perfection.
  9. The number nine represents happy returns and completion. It’s symbolic of attainment, wealth, abundance and full potential. The flip side can produce egotism, greed, lust and envy. Consider adding a turtle, which is symbolic for the number nine energy. They stand for accomplishment and long life.

Numbers are truly a universal language and with these added tips and few simple additions your home you can reach optimal levels of love, luck and prosperity.

Finding the Joy in Cancer

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“At first I was afraid, I was petrified,”
Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive.”

This is the song I was listening to when I received the phone call from my doctor. I don’t remember much about what he said. All I remember were those three devastating words: “You have cancer.” The opening line of Gloria Gayor’s song summed up my exact feeling. Petrified.

After I hung up the phone I made a choice. I knew the opposite of fear was courage. I realized that to get through this adventure I would need to surround myself with family and friends who would not only support and encourage me, but would also help me stay in my joy.

The deep sorrow of any illness carves a hole into our being, but the hole leaves space for joy. Sorrow and joy are a package deal. When one is in your kitchen the other is asleep on the couch.

I learned that joy is everyday magic. It grounds me. It lifts me. It expands my mind and spirit. And I learned that a daily affirmation helped me to stay in my joy. I would look in the mirror at the scars on my face that six surgeries and 64 stitches left and I would say out loud:
“My scars are only skin deep. Cancer cannot break my heart, it cannot rob my spirit, and it cannot touch my soul. Today I choose to stay in my joy.”

There were days that were challenging to be joyful. I had a nuclear breakdown when I heard about John McCain’s brain cancer. He, too, had the same kind of melanoma as me, and I wondered if my cancer would spread. Waves of emotion crashed over me. I couldn’t breathe. I went down the street to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and sat in the back row and prayed for John McCain, for me, and for anyone going through cancer. Then I sang – out loud – in the beautiful acoustics of this 103-year-old church, “Let it Be,” which had been my theme song throughout my cancer journey. When I left the church I checked Facebook, and one of my oldest and dearest friends had posted a video of three men sitting in a cathedral singing, “Let it Be.” This confirmed to me that God/The Universe was always speaking to us, sending us little messages, creating serendipities, reminding us to stop and to breathe. Reminding us to believe in something else, to believe in something more, and to remind us that we are never alone. Never.

Last month was my one-year cancer free anniversary. I uncharacteristically did not want a party nor did I celebrate in a grand way. I didn’t buy an expensive item to mark the occasion. Having cancer has changed me.

Surviving cancer didn’t give me a fresh start on life; it gave me a chance to understand what it means to live. It wasn’t a challenge to be dealt with, conquered or overcome. I realized a complex view of myself was required to work through my fears and having cancer has provided me a level of maturity I had never before experienced. I am now weathered, solid, shaped by my sorrow and pain as well as by my success and joys. Cancer is a process that allowed me to open doorways and turn the lights on to the inner rooms of my soul. The gratitude I feel will be burned into my consciousness forever. I will never forget because I will never be the same.

And now the darkness is over. And in its place is the illumination of a bright new path that lights the way for the rest of my life and for the joy that surrounds me. Always.

Michelle Cromer