Q: How can I use the symbolic aspects of Feng Shui to heal a family rift that has resulted since my divorce?
A: One of the most powerful aspects of Feng Shui is the practice of setting an intention about some aspect of life we want to change and placing an item in the environment to remind us of it. Since it’s natural to focus on things that are troubling us, we tend to get into an automatic thought loop that plays over and over again in our minds. If we continue this automatic thought long enough, it forms a synaptic pairing in the brain and this impacts brain chemistry and how we feel. When that pattern is broken, brain chemistry shifts as does our emotional response to those issues. To take it a step further, we then impact events and those around us differently when we feel positive about them, rather than negative.
In terms of your family rift, try placing some family photographs of a happier time in an area you see often. This accomplishes several things. First, it serves as a reminder — like a string around your finger. Second, it may help you break the automatic-negative-thought pattern. Finally, the physical act of placing a reminder is an act of commitment. As W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951 says:
Until one is committed
there is always hesitance, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.
