I am totally absorbed in working on my space right now. It started kind of innocently and unexpectedly when I was playing with my decor items and changing them around for a fresh flow. I sure did not plan to spend more than a couple hours on this always fun experience. However, here I am, three days after my space was supposed to feel totally ready for 2009 - calm and clean - but now it looks like I am moving out!

What happened? Well, for one, I had to keep my commitments to clients, so it took longer. The main thing, though, is that I can never really clean on the surface. As a close friend told me once when he got frustrated with our last minute change of plans: "All the normal people just quickly dust on a surface, why are you creating a whole revolution out of it?"

There is something about cleaning and making everything feel fresh that is almost addictive to me. OK, not the right choice of words. Therapeutic is a better word. Healing, too. There are always interesting issues coming up that give me a chance to look deeper at what is going on in my life. Kind of like an active meditation. I like it.

It is not easy, but I always love the results, so I've learned to appreciate the "uncomfortable-ness" of the process. It doesn't happen on a schedule, and it is not just about cleaning or re-arranging. It is more like rethinking, or refreshing your life by re-creating the energy around you.

And how is the feng shui of your house doing? Is your energy feeling fresh and happy? If you have 15 min, check the interview with Fanny Kiefer, one of the most influential women in Canada. She had interesting questions about feng shui; we talked about clutter, a bedroom for love and Mandarin ducks, too!

• TV Interview about Feng Shui for Love

Photo: (c) Fleur Suijten

To live in a good feng shui house is to be surrounded by a healthy and vibrant quality of Chi, or energy. A good feng shui house will feel good, look good and attract all the good to you!

Knowing that, wouldn't you want your house to have good feng shui?

Of course, you would.

However, with all the growing popularity of feng shui, the confusion surrounding various feng shui applications - be it in your house, garden or your business - seems to be steadily growing, too.

Just when you cleared your clutter (did you really?) and are finally decorating your house with the feng shui Bagua energies in mind, another big confusion steps in - the yearly feng shui updates. Read more

• How To Apply the Yearly Feng Shui Updates

Photo: Trinette Reed / Getty Images

I know it can be confusing when according to the yearly feng shui updates you are asked to bring a conflicting feng shui element to a specific Bagua area. For example, in 2009, the water feng shui element is good in the South area, which, as you know, is governed by the fire feng shui element. You know that water puts down the fire in the five element destructive cycle, so a very logical question is: "Why would one do that?"

I am writing an article now that will help you understand and combine the basic energy foundation of the Bagua with the yearly feng shui changes of the flying star school. This is my "homework" for the weekend. Not that I like to work on the weekends (I don't!), but it is important to bring more clarity to this issue before you implement the 2009 feng shui changes.

If you are up to doing some work over the weekend, too - fun work! - read the article "How To Create A Bedroom To Ruin Your Love Life" to make sure this bedroom checklist never applies to your bedroom. Be open to love - it is the best possible energy.

Have a good weekend!



Photo: Jonathan Kantor Studio / Getty Images

The feng shui updates on "the good, the bad, and the ugly" energies for 2009 are here for you. The Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) starts on January 26, 2009; it is the time when you would re-position your feng shui cures according to the yearly movement of energies, called stars in the flying star school of feng shui.

If you have been reading this blog for a while and exploring the feng shui articles on this site, you know that I am always looking to empower with solutions, versus focus on the negative aspects of any given situation.

No matter what house you live in - it might have a bathroom in the center or a staircase facing the door - do not give into fear and do not transform your home into an Asian supermarket.

Use this ancient knowledge wisely.
Read more

• Challenging Feng Shui Areas in 2009

Photo: (c) Claudio Maciel