[NEW TIP SHEET] Helpful People, Community & Travel. Yes please!
Ever hear the adage, "If you want something done right, do it yourself.”? My guess is you have. Here in the states--in this very individualistic society--self-sufficiency is seen as a virtue.
In my own journey, this cultural norm has not served me well. I spent a large part of my 20’s (and my 30’s) feeling exactly that way: if I wanted something done to my own standards, I would have to complete the task myself.
And the truth is, it left me feeling alone, with a lack of support around me. That lack of support came from my own limiting belief that no one had my back, that I couldn’t depend on anyone.
I spent frustrated days picking up after everyone, fuming at the fact that no one else seemed to care about the state of our space. Now I can look back and chuckle at how difficult I made things for myself.
Now that we have some semblance of a family routine around our things, now that we are surrounded by only the things that bring us joy (which means significantly less junk clogging the pipes, making life more difficult), now that I accept help more readily, life is easier and more enjoyable.
Now, every day when I sit down to meditate, I can feel the endless and bountiful support that is around me always. I know that help comes to me when I need it, when I accept it and allow it into my life. That feels good.
You always know if a thought is true based on how it feels.
In the ancient tradition of Feng Shui, one of the life areas defined on the Bagua Map is:
Helpful People, Community & Travel
This area has everything to do with the helpful benefactors in your life. It complements (& is related to) the Wealth & Abundance area because in the end, it is that network of people, the relationships you develop that allow abundance to come into your life (abundance of job opportunities, of gifts (monetary and otherwise), of experiences and invitations).
To locate the Helpful People, Community & Travel area of your home, visit my blog post on How & Why to Place the Bagua Map, but in short, it is the right front third of your home.
Why do you associate an area of your life with an area of your home in Feng Shui?
Good question. Placing this life map over your space, allows you to have a physical place to reflect your intentions in life.
For example: If I want to bring more money into my life and I want that money to make my life feel easier, like I can do what I want, I would first take a look at the Wealth & Abundance area of my home.
I would clear out or fix anything that I don't love, anything that is old and broken, or that reflects difficulty (stuck windows, furniture you have to navigate around in order to open curtains, doors with hanging objects or whose swing is blocked). I would do a deep clean to remove any stagnant energies and I would do an energetic clearing with sage and essential oils.
With clear intentions about how much money I want to attract and how it will make me feel to achieve that goal, I would intentionally place objects in that space that reflect the wealth, the abundance I’m looking for, the ease with which it will come into my life, the freedom I will feel to do what I love.
Creating a space that reflects the wealth you want to attract, allows you to feel--everyday when you are in the space--what it will feel like to be there, at that point in the future.
That last piece is essential and is reinforced by the Mindset movements, which instruct you to align your energies with the energies you want to feel, to notice the way, each and every day that you already feel the ease or the freedom that you want from bringing wealth into your life.
Setting up a space that reflects the way you want to feel about the Wealth in your life (or the Helpful People, or any other area), allows you to be in that feeling that much more, which is what attracts that feeling, that outcome, to you.
You cannot achieve a happy goal from an unhappy journey.
In other words, soak up life as it already is, find the parts and pieces that you want to feel and revel in the fact that you already feel them.
Otherwise, you may achieve wealth. But if you do so feeling stressed and overwhelmed, that stress and overwhelm will continue. Your problems follow you wherever you go. Just because you achieve a goal, does not mean you will feel a certain way.
Feeling a certain way is something you go about focusing on TODAY.
The power of Feng Shui is in getting clear on the intentions you have for your life, getting clear on what you want, what you desire in your wildest imagination--in a particular area of life. Once you have that clarity of how you want to feel, you go about setting up the space around you to reflect that feeling.
And so today, as we focus in on the Helpful People & Community Gua, I will share with you the elements associated with this area, as well as the colors and shapes and materials that are supportive of that element. Utilizing these materials and colors is a way not only to narrow down your choices when it comes to furnishings and colors, but also to place support where it is needed.
In a way, it allows you to feel that universal support that is always accessible to you.
The art of Feng Shui is ancient and complex. I encapsulate an incredible amount of information as we focus on this Helpful People area--and I boil it down further in a 1 page Tip Sheet for you to refer back to for clarification (scroll down to access it!). Think of this as planting a seed. It is okay if you do not fully comprehend the complexity of the plant that will grow, it is simply necessary to nurture and water it.
To begin…
There is an element associated with each Gua (life area).
METAL
is the element associated with the Helpful People, Community & Travel area.
This particular area thrives with metal that is hard--like a knife--smooth and sleek.
This is the realm of connection to the universal life force, source energy, the divine. It is the space where we nurture visible and invisible support--a sense of community--where we welcome aid from heavenly beings and neighbors alike.
Metallic colors are the ones associated with this element: silvers, greys, pastels, whites.
Use metal colors in the Helpful People, Community & Travel area to attract benefactors, activate energy and create momentum in this area of your life.
Not wild about metallic colors? You can also use the shapes, images and objects that represent metal.
SHAPE: Circles and spheres are associated with metal. This represents the cyclical nature of life, the coming together of community and working together toward a greater good.
IMAGES, OBJECTS, MATERIALS: Shiny materials, reflective like metal are supportive in this area, as well as any objects that are circular or spherical in shape or made of metal, as well as images that depict these shapes or materials.
Every element has a supporting element as well. When you feel the Helpful People, Community & Travel area of your life could use some additional support, or if you are about to go off on an adventure, utilize the supporting element in the space.
Earth is the element that supports Metal (Metal comes out of the Earth).
Feel free to use as many earth tones (deep yellows, oranges, brick red and browns) as well as solid square shapes (the shape associated with Earth) in the Helpful People & Community area to help feed the metal energy that is the foundation for your life in this area. You can also group things in fours to represent the stability found in the four corners of a square.
In addition to helpful or supportive elements for particular areas of your home, there are also colors and elements to avoid.
(Don’t worry about keeping all this information in your head! Scroll down for the all new Tip Sheet: How to Bring Helpful People Into Your Life!)
Water energy DRAINS metal energy (think of water condensing on a metal cup). This means it is best to avoid the colors, images and shapes that represent Water in your Helpful People & Community area as it will drain the metal energies you want in these spaces.
AVOID: Blues & Blacks, anything Wavy and depictions of water.
Fire energy MELTS Metal energy. Fire should be avoided in this area in order to allow the metal energies associated with your joy and creativity to thrive. Avoid representations of Fire in your Helpful People & Community area as well as anything in threes.
AVOID: Fiery reds, bright oranges, triangles and anything in threes.
The first step is to be clear on what you want your community, the helpful people in your life and your travel to look like. Dream big. Drop the ‘how’s’ and allow yourself to feel into what that would look like in your wildest dreams, no holds barred. Where are you now? Where do you want to be?
Only when you have clarity on what you want this area of your life to look like and feel like, can you go about creating a reflection of this desire in your space.
Your spaces tend to hold you back from transforming into the person you want to be. All of your things are reminders of your past--some of them incredibly positive, joy filled memories; some of them convoluted, weighty memories.
When you allow yourself to let go of the things that don’t bring you joy, it is so much easier intentionally set your space up to support the person you want to be going forward. And when you do that, dramatic transformations come your way: beauty and joy are easily accessible. Big opportunities come and find you and life becomes easier.
(I highly recommend Marie Kondo’s: the life-changing magic of tidying up. Read it, soak it up. Let go of the weighty items that you don't love. Transform your space. Uplift your life.)
It sounds so simple. And in many ways it is. There is immense power to create the life you desire, just waiting for you under the surface of your spaces. When you live intentionally in your space and create a clear reflection of the community and helpful people and travel you want to experience in life, those big dreams and desires follow with ease.
Whatever your style, whatever space you live in today, you can begin to utilize the elements and colors associated to intentionally bring more helpful people, depth of community and joys of travel into your life.
Take a look at the Helpful People area in your home. Does the artwork there reflect the community and travel you desire? How could the space better reflect the kind of people you want in your life? There are always opportunities for improvement. Play around with it. Have fun!
You can rest easy knowing that I’ve boiled down the basic concepts of the Helpful People, Community & Travel area into a 1-page Tip Sheet! Enter your email address below and I’ll send the pdf right to your inbox.
Here’s to allowing yourself to see and experience the support that is always around you.
:) Tenaya
P.s. The work I do with clients in their spaces and in their lives is this deep dive work that involves gaining ultimate clarity on your desires, shifting your spaces to reflect the ease and enjoyment you’d like to feel, and allowing your wildest dreams to come to fruition more quickly and easily than you’d ever imagined.
It takes an experienced ear to parse out the bits and pieces of limiting beliefs that hold you back from living your full potential. When you feel like it’s time to transform more quickly, to have support in helping you release the struggle, to live in a space that reflects the person you want to be going forward, not just the person you’ve been in the past, get in touch (tenaya@tpkfengshui.com). We’ll find a time to hop on the phone for a free discovery call. Looking forward to the opportunity to connect!
P.s. Up next month: Health is September’s focus. Apropos as we move away from the extroverted summer months and back into our self as we prepare for winter. Get excited!
