My happy place is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG), especially in May; the only month when you can see nature put on an exclusive parade just for her patrons - Bluebell Wood. Nothing pleases me more than to walk through that calm sea of lilac and bask among the 45,000 Spanish Bluebells.
Unfortunately, BBG won't allow me to roll about in the bluebells nor spread a blanket to have lunch in the middle of them; so today's lunch is at their excellent Terrace Cafe. I'm nursing a bit of a cold, so it's the hearty soup of the day for me. What I love about Terrace is the high quality yet unassuming fare they serve.
Mental Clutter
I'm not surprised I caught a cold. According to Louise Hay's Heal Your Body, one of the "probable causes" for the common cold occurs when there's "too much going on at once" in one's life. Makes perfect sense.Spring cleaning while starting a business is a lot on the plate and this deep spring cleaning is downright confrontational. I'm doing nothing short of moving into an entirely new level of thought. I'm switching from "E" (employee) to "B" (business owner).
Switching Sides
In Robert Kiyosaki's CASHFLOW Quadrant, Robert's rich dad explained to him why it's so hard for a person to make that switch. "The part of you that's addicted to being an "E", or afraid that life will end, begins to kick and fight back. It's like a drowning person beginning to fight for air, or a starving man who will eat anything to survive."It's this battle that goes on inside of you that makes it so hard. It's the battle between who you no longer are and who you want to become that is the problem.... The part of you that still seeks security is in a war with that part of you that wants freedom. Only you can decide which one will win. You'll either build that business or you'll go back to finding a job - forever."
Forever? Nothing like the prospect of forever to get my attention. Up until now, my security-seeking side has laid my office in ruins.
Creating Harmony
Clutter stagnates ch'i and a home office is a notorious collector of clutter. In Nancy SantoPietro's (my favorite Feng Shui teacher) Harmony by Design, she discusses the issue of clutter. "The main problem with clutter is that it blocks and distorts the natural flow of ch'i.... Make sure that those items aren't preventing you from being on an energy level that will permit you to move forward."If I'm going to have an auspicious start to my business and win this battle, the clutter must go. One obstacle is time - this last stand of E vs B is taking much longer than I thought.
Technological Onslaught
In Brook Palmer's Clutter Busting, I'm following his exercise to clear the clutter from your computer. You must first relax yourself in front of it, before turning it on; go through each and every email in your inbox; take a break; go through each email folder; go through your contacts; go through your favorites and bookmarks; take another break; then go through all the desktop folders. Once finished, thank your computer, say goodbye to it and shut it down.At first read, it seems like a day or two's work. His timetable is certainly more realistic than the one suggested in The Declutter Workbook: 101 Feng Shui Steps to Transform Your Life by Mary Lambert. She suggests spending two hours in getting your emails down to 50.
Granted these two books were published in 2009 and 2004, respectively. The authors couldn't have possibly have foreseen the activity of today's average email account.
I had to spend some time watching MSN Hotmail's demos for their revamped email system. Only then was I able to stop beating myself up about the constantly building emails in my three accounts. According to them, the average person receives 14,500 emails per year per account (!).
And my computer - bless his old microchip - is running the way I feel: congested. The situation is dire, indeed. Two months seems a much more reasonable time limit to get my office back into tip-top shape.
Paradigm Shift
Thankfully, I'm noticing a change already from the seemingly little I've done. So far, I've created new automatic rules to deal with my newsletters and emails, I designed better file folders and linked two of the accounts together for easier cleaning. I've also cleaned and defraggled my hard drive. My laptop is already showing improved performance.
The best way for me to tell if I'm moving in the right direction is to notice nature's clues. Not only did I catch Bluebell Wood at its brief peak; but I also witnessed saw something I've never seen before: adjacent to the bluebells is the Rose Arc Pool. In it I, and a few other patrons, saw a mother duck and her nine new babies swimming behind her. Synchronicity at its best!
How does a NEW family of wild ducks end up in BBG? I know the Audubon Center is across the street in Prospect Park and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that's where I saw them. And I've seen the occasional duck or two in BBG - but never a mama and with so many of her babies.
Birds have a very special place in Feng Shui. According to About.com's Feng Shui 101, birds are "considered [to be] powerful symbols of new opportunities that are there for you even in times of adversity."
Mandarin ducks mate for life and are a powerful symbol of love and commitment. Cranes reflect wisdom and longevity. Peacocks are a "manifestation of the celestial Phoenix on Earth".
And while these ducks seemed to be of the mallard variety, there ARE mandarin ducks and peafowl across the street at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Prospect Park Zoo.
The nine ducklings? Nine is the most auspicious number in Feng Shui. I believe I just received the best confirmation I could possibly get! I'm very excited and optimistic about the business opportunities ahead and will do all that I can to take advantage of them.
