Intentions Archives - Nancy Wesson Consulting

“May you lead an interesting life…”

Nancy — Sat, 05 May 2012 06:10:00 +0000

No travel log today, unless one considers this a travel log of the nooks-and-crannies of my mind. Could be dangerous going there. Reminds me of a time when a client of mine in West Virginia, living at the edge of an old, flooded quarry invited me to go canoeing with her into the partially flooded caves (spooky). Filled with horror at the mere thought of being shrouded in darkness while suspended over dark water – I demurred… So you are forewarned…

I received an interesting newsletter from a friend back in Wimberley yesterday (now a week ago) and it set me to thinking. (As I said, you know where this is going, so feel free to get out while you can. ) Just before his epistle, a different Newsletter arrived, about a similar topic, not exactly the same – but related. Well – when I got two in a row, that seemed significant.

Because – one of the things I have missed sorely here in this experience is my connection with things spiritual. That world – intuition, healing, synchronicity, metaphysics, things that go bump-in-the-night – has been part-and-parcel of everything I’ve done both personally and professional for the last two decades. To have gone cold-turkey has left a void that I must discover new ways to fill. People here don’t really know me for that work, so I get little of the feedback I grew accustomed to back home. But some of those discussions are re-emerging. I came here – in part – to live the tools I taught to others and do it in a way that didn’t involve making a living at it. But you know that and I won’t beat that dead horse. Still, when a passion is also your business, it provides a different opportunity to keep it in the forefront of life – in fact be up-to-your-ears in it. Here, much as I had expected – it has been relegated to the world of practical use and the very nature of something becoming part of the routine, takes a bit of the mystery out of it, but it is no less valuable. If fact it makes room for the next level of realization or exploration. One skill builds on another as with anything else. But I do miss sharing it – so I guess I’m sharing it with you. I’ve started meditating again, and with it there has been a return of a sense of connectedness and also an increase in synchronicity. Perhaps I’m baaaaack.

Anyway, the topic addressed in the first news letter has to do with Oneness, the concept that we are all part of the greater whole. I’ve referenced it obliquely before as a holographic universe – and it is a guiding principal of my life and indeed my choosing to be here. The partial answer to the question, “what in the world are you doing there,” rests in that belief and its natural consequence: that if I/we can do one thing to help any part of this universe, we help all of it. Consciousness knows no boundaries, so as long as one of us holds anger, fear, contempt, judgment – all of us hold it to one degree or another. The flip side is – that as one of us becomes more enlightened, we all become more enlightened – the Hundredth Monkey Principle. And I have re-discovered that it is easier to feel enlightened and release the negatives when one lives surrounded by a sense of safety and comfort that is so much a part of what we have considered to be our birthright in the States. It is another matter, when faced moment-by-moment by things, people, circumstances that are so at odds with the way we are accustomed to operating. Easy to judge things like “people being late, not knowing how to_____, cultural acceptance of certain forms of abuse, etc.” I’m in a target rich environment here for learning non-attachment. As was true on the boat trip, I am also coming face-to-face with some characteristics about myself that aren’t so pretty (the down-side of self-discovery). In psychological jargon, one might say I’ve met my shadow…

Then came the newsletter about “being present – in the moment,” not in the future, nor chewing on past successes or failures. We hear about these concepts, discuss them, philosophize….. But then we get back to living the life that is hard-wired: worried about the past, focused on the future, seldom in the present. The useful thing about stepping out periodically, putting yourself in situations where you don’t automatically know how to respond, is that it challenges different parts of the brain. – let alone different parts of the psyche. Anything we’ve done for long or have done repetitively forms a handy neural network, so the next time we need a response – a network fires without our even calling it into play. That’s why it’s exhausting to be learning all the time, to be stressed all the time, to be in immersed in a radically different culture. And I have been exhausted most of the time here – the case for most of the PCVs I know. Nothing comes automatically – each response is a new one. And while one is seeking new responses, it’s a constant battle between what we remember worked at one point in our lives and what might work NOW. Those are often at odds with each other.

So back to being in the present and Oneness. What an opportunity! In wanting a metaphysical or spiritual experience (you know – one of those with bells-and-whistles like a precognitive dream, communing with a ghost, a close encounter-of-the-third-kind…) I failed to see the one before me. And that is, using this concept of being present (and dealing with nothing and no one every being on time) as an extended meditation… That means letting go of the judgment around it, letting go of expectations and not moving ahead to the future outcome…. Beginning to sound very Buddhist. And that works for me, but I wouldn’t mind some bells-and-whistles.

In thinking about this, one of the things that is both endearing and infuriating here is the issue of time. It’s one of the greatest challenge of westerners. The other great challenge has to do with boundaries. And here we are back to “being present and oneness.” Lordy, does the Universe always have to have the last word? But I WANT THE LAST WORD!!!! Could be time to put on my big-girl pants and shut up.

Interestingly, there is often a sense of “no time” here. Or maybe it’s the black-hole of time. Have to wait? Bring a book. No amount of angst-ing over it, pushing, cajoling, logical discussion will make any difference. We can try to effect those changes (and I still think it’s not only worth while, but required for any developing country to adopt some concepts of timeliness, honoring commitments, etc. because these are part of the bundle if one wants the conveniences brought about by commerce and business) but it is futile. In the MOMENT, it is sometimes more valuable to learn to BE. So… as someone who has always been involved in a project, been the teacher, the planner, had at least some illusion of control, this – shall we say – is simultaneously illuminating, interesting and infuriating. Reminds me of the Buddhist “curse:” May you have an interesting life. Because “interesting” implies lessons… No shortage of those here.

Consistent with what I know to be true of intention and the world of quantum physics, law of attraction (tho I am growing to hate that term because of the baggage that comes with it and some of the Charlatans trying to sell it as “get rich quick”) I know the instant one lets go of the attachment to something, the faster that something manifests. As I said, it’s a good meditation.

And – as if to prove a point – as I had a repair man scheduled to come at 10:00 AM and settled down with a good book and a cup of coffee feeling it will be completely OK if he didn’t show up until – when? Having forgotten about the time (i.e became unattached to it) I startled to a knock at the door. It was straight up 10:00 and there was my repairman! He confessed to being such an anomaly in his culture that friends call him the Black Mzungu. So today, the White Acholi and the Black Mzungu met, each quite delighted by this twilight zone shift of identities. Each of us had to let go of an attachment to custom to get there. It’s going to be one attachment at a time I think. Eighteen more months of lessons/discoveries to go – and counting. Oops – that’s another attachment.

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The Joy of Feng Shui in Your New Home

Nancy — Sun, 18 Mar 2001 18:45:00 +0000

by Nancy Wesson

Reprinted from The Austin Homesteader, 2001

I recently overheard a reporter laughingly describe a New York City boutique that that hired a Feng Shui Consultant to come in before opening day. He “hung a few crystals and mirrors around the place,” – and on the first day projected sales were exceeded by five hundred percent.

“Closet Consults”

Mistakenly, Feng Shui is sometimes labeled a mystical philosophy embraced by people who call the psychic hotline for dating advice. I’ve actually had “closeted” clients who had me consult “under-cover.” Representing myself only as a “space designer,” it was still clear that the people working in the business viewed my presence there as silly. Ironically, once the office was reconfigured, the very same skeptics were drawn to it like a magnet, along with everyone else. I might mention that this was accomplished by rearranging the furniture – not a crystal or mirror anywhere.

Practical Feng Shui

The reality is – no matter how skeptical, everyone is affected by the way a space looks and feels. Why do you go in some homes and feel comfortable and at ease, and others are unpleasant and make you anxious to leave? The same is true of restaurants, hotels, and retail businesses – go through your own list of favorites in these categories and think about how much “atmosphere” had to do with it.

Just “say no” … to dead stuff

Here’s another example on the most obvious level. You could sit down in someone’s living room and ignore an ugly coffee table – but a dead flower arrangement on top of it would bother you. You probably wouldn’t regard your own aversion to the dead flowers as a mystical experience – instead you would probably be wondering how it didn’t bother your host.

I’m guessing that you’ve already registered a visceral response to the dead batch on the left, in which case I’ve made my point.

If you were to analyze it further, there is clearly something more to the dead flowers than just aesthetics, which is why the ugly coffee table wouldn’t bother you in the same way. The fact is that a dead flower arrangement would have a negative effect on you and everything else in the room. The reverse of this concept is true as well. At some point you’ve probably walked into a place and felt instantly relaxed – Bed and Breakfast Inns are well known for accomplishing this effect. Is it just because the furniture is prettier than yours. Probably not. The most popular Bed and Breakfast Inns offer atmosphere, and customers pay top dollar to get it. And it’s about much more than the expense of the decoration. It includes placement, the symbolism in the artwork, choice of colors, traffic-flow, sounds, etc.

Integrating Self with Environment

For most of us, organizing and decorating a new home is a task we take quite seriously. We are trying to create our own space that makes us feel comfortable and content. What most of us don’t realize is that in some places in the world this is an art and a science, and in China this science – known as Feng Shui, has been studied and practiced for 5,000 years. Also known as “the art of placement”, it seeks to integrate the individual with his/her environment in a way that supports the individual emotionally, physically, and intellectually.

A Blend of Sciences

Feng Shui represents a blending of sciences including: ergonomics, psychology, quantum physics, and spirituality.

It addresses the psychology of light, color, sound, and air quality and the relationship of Quantum physics to intention. Mood, relationships, success, and all aspects of our lives are influenced by the things around us. Most of those things are much less obvious than the dead flowers.

A color that is soothing in one place can increase stress levels in another. Similarly, a color that is energizing to one person, might make another nauseous. What’s your reaction to the colors on the left? (Or did you have such a negative response to the fact that the paint brushes are dirty and someone is going to have to clean them, that you missed the color entirely?

Color

A color that is soothing in one place can increase stress levels in another. Similarly, a color that is energizing to one person, might make another nauseous. What’s your reaction to the colors on the left? (Or did you have such a negative response to the fact that the paint brushes are dirty and someone is going to have to clean them, that you missed the color entirely?

How about this one? Does it feel different? More organized, less confronting? I’ll bet you’re not mentally cleaning brushes now, are you? This is how a myriad of factors in our environment impact us viscerally and often so subtly that we don’t realize it’s the environment, not the person, the floor-plan, the lighting, etc.

The position of your bed can make the difference between restful sleep and being tired day after day. (See the post “To Sleep or Not to Sleep). A room that is dreary one day can be cozy the next, just by changing the lighting. Successful Realtors know this when they prepare to show a home. Turn on all the lights; play soft classical music in the background; bake some cookies. These are the simplest principles, yet have an immediate, dramatic effect and greatly increase the likelihood of an offer.

What Does a Consultant Do?

Contrary of the reporter’s comment mentioned above, a real expert will not hang crystals and mirrors all over the place. My consultations start with an analysis of your floor plan as it relates to the Feng Shui Bagua and an in-depth discussion of what you want in your life, followed by a review of how your home impacts those and what Feng Shui adjustments can be made. A good Feng Shui consultant works with not only the physical space, but emotional and spiritual aspects as well. The goal is always to help you bring your aspirations into fruition and to create balance.

Addressing the purely physical space, the designer might suggest colors, fabrics and furnishings will the goal of selling a physical product. The usual Feng Shui consultant doesn’t sell materials, their product is knowledge and information. They will offer recommendations about what specific actions and elements to help you bring your intentions to life.

As the client, you’ll receive recommendations for colors that will create a balanced and harmonious environment, but you’ll be on your own with the paint chips. The consultant may also suggest a live plant, a lamp, or the addition of some other objects in the room, but after that it’s up to you. Finally, the difference between a decorator and a Feng Shui Consultant is the time involved. The consultant comes to your home and spends some time assessing what each room needs, then provides you with the recommendations. This process usually takes a few hours, but can extend beyond that according to the level of detail you choose and your budget. After that, you can implement the recommendations as time and budget allow.

Empowerment

My goal in a consultation is to offer recommendations in a way that imparts understanding of the process. Inherent in that approach is my desire to empower the client to use the information going forward..

When selecting a Feng Shui consultant, make sure they are trained and experienced. Ask about their references. You might also ask for some of their own case histories; every Feng Shui consultant worth their salt will have plenty of amazing results to tell you about. Ideally, the best time to Feng Shui your home is when you first move in. Your home really can have all of the “atmosphere” you might pay for in a Bed and Breakfast. Start enjoying it from the very beginning!

Bagua Download

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