By Susan Levitt
While reading the memoir by British aritocrat Ivana Lowell “Why Not Say What Happened” I noticed many circumstances of bad feng shui in her life. Even though she was very wealthy and lived in stately manors, here is a description of an early childhood home in Mayfair, England:
“My mother’s idea of decorating was to place as many rickety antiques as could fit into a room onto a comparable number of worn antique rugs. The place was always untidy and unruly. If a television set in our living room broke, the replacement would simply be put on top. I have a photo of me as a small child perched on an old broken sofa next to several defunct TV sets and other pieces of unidentifiable furniture. I look confused and out of place, as though I had just been dumped and left in some builder’s scrap yard. It is only when I look closely at the picture that I can tell that I am, in fact, in our drawing room.”
This sounds gruesome due to clutter, neglect, and bad feng shui! About antiques; be cautious with antiques. They can carry energy of the previous owners, and that is not always good. Don’t live with an antique if it does not feel right, or is rickety and not strong enough to be used. And notice exactly what the antique is. For example, an antique gun is unlucky just because it is a gun!
Don’t end up with piles of unused furniture, or piles of computer equipment and other gadgets. This stuff takes up way too much space to allow it to just keep piling up. You don’t want that “left in some builder’s scrap yard” feeling in any room of your home.
Children are sensitive and know what’s going on. They know when a room is a cluttered mess. I’ve seen infants start to cry when they are carried into a room that is chaotic. So for the sake of your kids and to keep family peace, tidy up and don’t let clutter pile up.
If you don’t have kids, or you don’t share your home with anyone, still be aware of the environment that you create. Ivana Lowell describes the studio of her musician father (who turns out to not be her father):
“(His) apartment was only slightly more normal. It was dark and smelled of halva and cologne. His piano was a studio at the end of dark, long, and narrow corridor. When we visited, he would often lock himself in the room and try to compose his music. All we would hear was the sound of the metronome ticking in an otherwise painfully silent room.”
Of course this does not end well. Air out the place, add some lights, paint the walls, and add bright color and patterns. Play music to break the monotony of the metronome.
Bad feng shui continues in another childhood home:
“My bedroom was at the very back of the house, and the easiest route there was by means of the narrow staircase at the end of one wing. I hated going to bed. I was convinced that the house was haunted (I still am), and my room was cold, damp, and lonely. Every night I felt as though I was being exiled into some unfriendly and isolated world… One night I experimented to see what would happen if I screamed at the top of my lungs. After ten minutes of yelling, I realized that no one could hear me.”
This led to, “I think I was about six years old when Mike began to visit me in my bedroom.” The author decribes her childhood molestation by Mike, a handyman who worked on her family’s estate.
The author’s life challenges continue, all in horrible feng shui environments in castles and estates of the wealthiest and most privileged people in the world.
Some things in life we can do something about, and some things in life we cannot change. But we can all make the conscious choice to live with good feng shui by cleaning up messes and being aware of what we chose to live with. Good feng shui closes the door to chaos and violence, and opens the door to peace, harmony, and success.
From Susan's blog