INTERVIEW WITH CATHLEEN RICKARD PART I      

 

1.     How did you become involved with Feng Shui?

The Feng Shui “Pixie” had a clever and natural way to call my attention to the fascinating world it lives in.  As a T’ai Chi instructor for almost twenty-five years, I often look for older, used books on the subject to present to my students.  (The original books I studied are almost all out of print.)  On one of those used bookstore “searching” occasions, I came upon a Feng Shui book that was mistaken to be a martial art, tucked in between a variety of Kung Fu, Flying Dragon martial art books.  I laughed to myself as I picked up the book and began to thumb through it.  Within less than a minute I became fascinated.  Wow!  T’ai Chi moves and balances internal environmental chi in the body; Feng Shui moves and balances external environmental chi in the home and workplace.  This instantly sounded like something that I wanted to know more about.  Finding several T’ai Chi books that I had been looking for, I also added the little Feng Shui book to my shopping cart.

          By the next day I had almost read the entire book and was hooked.  Another venue for healing.  Another medium that could immensely help people feel more connected and in tune with their surroundings.  Balance has always been a major attraction in my life.   T’ai Chi was one answer.  Now I had a new “way”, a tool that I could apply to my living space to create more harmony and balance to match the balance I feel and experience in my body and mind from T’ai Chi practice.  One is connected to the other; they are intertwined.  I realized that environment make a huge difference in how we react in the world around us.  Environments are affecting us all of the time either positively or negatively.  With Feng shui wisdom and tools one can embrace, harness and deliberately circulate chi within a space and feel better!  Within a short time I found a school where I could study more deeply this wonderful ancient yet timeless subject.

 

2.     In which areas of Feng Shui have you devoted special attention?

My experience has led me to believe that homes, businesses, pieces of property, and workshops are so diverse that the practitioner must be ready for anything!  Useful remedies that are practical and easy to apply is my main emphasis upon entering any space.

 I do look at all entryways with a keen eye, knowing the “mouth of chi” is here and either calls in positive energy or diminishes it.  All clients will naturally wish for a balanced space and if the entrance is in disrepair or has some challenge, that is immediately addressed.  A challenge could be a door at a T-junction, a recessed entrance, too large an entrance, an invisible entrance, an inner stairway facing the main door, a sticky door handle, etc.  Once the main entrance challenge is addressed, there can be a positive shift in the energy thus creating a positive shift in the client’s life!

 

3.     Can you tell us about some common problems?

As I mentioned above, entrances are very important and one of the most common areas that I find can use some kind of improvement or extra enhancement. When I find a balanced entryway, I compliment the client immediately.  It is good intuitive Feng Shui sense and keeps the client’s personal chi healthy as well as anyone who enters through that space.

Another common Feng Shui challenge is clutter:  Where to put our stuff and when to let it go.  I call it musical clutter.  You clear up an area and suddenly find another area that calls for your attention.  Life keeps us busy and things can add up at different times.  We just have to be on top of it, put on some good music, start to move things around, change, let go, and not stress ourselves out.  The energy will always shift for the better!

 

4.     Will you share a memorable story of Feng Shui transformation?

                          The Case of the Wobbly Furniture.

          This dear young woman came up to my Feng shui Wisdom booth at a local health faire one afternoon all shaky and bewildered.  She had done some reading about Feng Shui, had applied some of the principles and was still experiencing constant anguish and indecision.  I gave her a mini-consultation and could see that some extra guidance could clear up some of her angst.  Not wanting to impose myself on her, I gave her some simple remedies, which she quickly wrote down.  As she got up to leave, she fell back down into the chair with shivers and wide eyes.  “How soon can you come to my home?  I really feel that you can help me!”  I had a feeling her problems were only skin deep.  She was a precious, sincere person with good intentions.  I agreed to visit her home to “see with Feng Shui eyes” what was actually going on to make her feel so restless and unsettled.

          First of all, her front door was literally under a stairwell.  Squashed energy immediately greeted her every day upon entering and exiting.  Walking into the living room, the main couch was covered in a white sheet, very ghostly.  Aside from a small dining table and several chairs, there was little actual seating, and no place to settle.  The one comfy seat in the house was covered with three friendly dogs in the Wealth gua, their domain.

          The most settled room in the house was her bedroom, which was located in Love and Relationships.  She had just started a new relationship, which seemed to be going well.  Her new bed and coverings in soft pinks and pastels were beautiful.  The only part that could use change was the bookshelf full of unrelated books that did not correlate to relationship or partnership and had noisy chi that talked too much.  As I went to move the bookshelf she gasped.  “Watch out!  It will fall apart if you move it!”  We carefully moved the shelf out and I began to notice a “theme.”

          As we went back into the living room, I had her uncover the ghostly-looking couch to find pleasant soft velvet in a muted red.  She had thought it might be too strong a color, but I felt she could use a little color in the room—not to mention, her cheeks.  The room immediately warmed up.

          The dining table was squashed into a lonely corner and I encouraged her to move it away from the corner into a more social and friendly location.  I went over to move a chair and again she gasped, “Watch out, it may fall apart!”  I then went to move the little table itself and again she gasped.  The entire set was wobbly and falling apart.  I asked her if she used the set to dine on.  She admitted that she didn’t use it; it was old and very uncomfortable.  She and her boyfriend ate meals on the “white” couch leaning over their food.

          This gal had a good job in a local library.  You could see that she was intelligent and kind, yet she had felt internally disturbed throughout the seven years she had lived in California.  This was her fourth apartment and third change of location.  She could never feel settled in.  She just kept moving around trying to find her “spot.”  She claimed that recently her dogs were always ill and all of her money was going to them.  (Going to the dogs.)

          As I pointed out earlier, you will recall that her dogs had their “bedroom” in the Wealth gua.  Thus they got all the money going their way.  We immediately moved them to the Extended Family/Health gua to get them healthy and keep her money more settled.

          The wobbly furniture indicated unsettled energy.  Wobbly legs, wobbly foundation, and nowhere to rest or relax.  This gal kept thinking about her hometown in the Midwest and could never really feel at home anywhere she lived in California.  She thought she would just “find” the right place in California but her heart kept burning for her hometown.  Living away from home somehow indicated a sense of growing up and independence but ironically she felt squashed, contracted, nervous and homesick.  I had her send the wobbly furniture to the Goodwill.  I would rather she just use the couch until she found something more stable.

          I found one decent stuffed chair in her bedroom, which we moved into the Knowledge gua of the house.  We placed a lamp there and put her favorite books into a basket, all to symbolize her relaxing, resting, rejuvenating.

          Since the stairwell above her one and only entrance/exit was squashing and constricting her chi, to have the chi circulate more freely, we placed a medium sized wind chime below the stairwell just next to the entrance.  We found an attractive plant in a dark blue pot that had been on her side desk and added that to the entrance to lift her health chi and enhance Self Cultivation.  To add character and whimsy to her entrance, we moved the attractive wreath in the hallway to the main door—this was something that would make her smile when she entered her home.  All of these remedies lifted and lightened up the entrance chi:  a weight off her shoulders; a straighter spine will calm tightened nerves.

          I received a phone call from her three weeks later saying she was going back to her hometown for a job interview at the local library.  The hometown library actually had a job opening and she was very excited.  If she got the job, which looked very promising, she planned to temporarily move in with her Dad, and tidy up some unsettled father-daughter issues.  Once her new job began, her boyfriend planned to move and they would pick out an apartment together.  Everything was lining up like a dream come true.

          Several months went by and then out of the blue she called me to thank me again for assisting her in making a huge life changing decision.  (Which she made on her own as soon as the chi in her environment became stronger.)  She loved her new job.  Her newfound relationship with her father was heartwarming and she and her boyfriend were having a great time together.  Her nervousness had disappeared and her dogs no longer ruled the roost, though, of course, she loved them dearly.

          She was HOME and felt transformed.  Her stability had returned, including the foundation that a loving Father provides.

          The Feng Shui Mirror shines true!

 

 

Many thanks to all of you for your interest in my books and the life-changing qualities of Feng Shui.  I hope to see you during the upcoming book tour. 

 

Feng Shui Blessings,

 

Denise