Feng Shui Long Island's Blog

I swore I was going back to the City today with the weather predicted to be 72 and sunny but think I need to spend a day home.  I wanted to go to the Village today (with Soho thrown in :) but it might have to wait.  I did have the opportunity to go last Sunday, there wasn't a cloud in the sky (literally) and so many people out it felt like Christmas time. 

I walked up to the park as usual from Penn Station and got so caught up in looking up, I forgot in Manhattan you have to remember to look DOWN as well.  A broken sidewalk and I went down...hard :)  One person almost stopped to see if I needed help....or rather I heard someone say "Oh my goodness, are you OK?" as they kept walking.  One of the things that makes me smile about The city, believe it or not!

I hobbled through the rest of the day and ran into some of my favorite things and thought I'd share them with you....the Native New Yorkers who don't get to the city as much as you'd like now.  I hope you enjoy them....

The BEST time of year, when everything is starting to bloom!

I always stop and wait for this (which can be really annoying to other people you are with!). It is the George Delacourt Musical Clock close to the Zoo in Central Park.  It has six bronze mechanical animals, all "playing" a musical instrument and can play any one of 32 Nursery Rymes.  The animals rotate the clock on the hour and half hour.

A good time to pass.   This is the Russian Philharmonic playing at Carnegie Center outside for a photo shoot :)

Literally not a cloud.  This is why I spend so much time looking UP!

The lonely Sax player.  Compared to the Naked Cowboy (who I am not showing so as not to offend anyone), no one lines up to hear this man and very people people left tips.  I had to think he played because he loved it, not for the money.

If you haven't thought about a get away to the City, it's the perfect time!

I rarely have an interaction with Scientists--or Chemists.  Ok, I've actually NEVER had an interaction with them in any way.  My beliefs and theirs, I thought were VERY different.  If it can't be Proven by some scientific theory, then it is just fiction to them, a "new age" thought process that doesn't mean a thing.  And in many ways, I see their point.  I often have people say "PROVE it to me" and want things backed up with evidence; evidence I am unable to produce.  Would the testimonials PROVE anything to them?  Not a thing.

About two months ago I was called to do a Feng Shui Consultation for a large company on Long Island.  I am keeping their name private.  They called because of several reasons but one of the owners had recently taken up Reiki; if you are familiar with it, a method of natural healing that deals with energy flow in the body and had had unbelievable results with it, she said, concerning her own health. She was going on to study it and it made sense to her as well as Feng Shui.  How the Energy in your surroundings can have a profound impact on you as well.

The main issues of the Corporation were financial, they had seen a slow but steady loss during the last 4 or 5 years.  And she noticed that there was much more fighting then usual between several employees that were upsetting herself and others.  I pulled up to a lovely building in one of my favorite nearby towns, Huntington, Long Island and saw a free standing building that was as lovely outside as it was inside.

Since this building dealt with food and more particularly, the ingredients that went into them, she advised me there were many scientists and chemists working there.  They were aware I was coming and some had expressed an interest in meeting me.  I wasn't sure what they wanted to know or what to expect in any way so there was no way I could "prepare" myself for what I thought would be a lot of scrutiny.

We toured the huge facility and found several issues.  I often try to post pictures because they can literally SHOW problems in a home or business.  The "Wealth"area was an empty, closed conference room.  The shades were drawn and I was told the room was formerly inhabited by her husband and he used it as his old office but had left the place.  Four or Five years ago.  Since that time it had not been used.  I encourage her to put one of her top producers from any department in that area---and keep the blinds open.  New, fresh energy was needed to get their wealth moving again in a positive direction and who wouldn't love an entire conference room as their own office?  She had just the person in mind.

The fighting?  Well, several of the people had changed their desks in the last few months.  The two that were doing most of the fighting were now in direct opposition to each other, almost "head on."  I suggested asking one of them if they would like to move to another area and she immediately thought of putting them back where they had previously been when there was no fighting.  They were also upgrading their systems and had added a lot of servers and computers and had placed them all in one area close to these workers.  They emit a lot of Electro Magnetic energy and I felt that had a part as well.  A separate room was being built for them which I was glad to hear.  Some redesigning  and rearranging of the office space was needed. 

On to the scientists.  I was floored to go into some of the spaces and be greeted very nicely.  They were not at ALLin opposition to what I did, they were very interested in it in fact which surprised me very much.  What they asked me about, instead of "proof" was how I viewed things, what some of the Feng Shui perspectives were and some asked me to do their offices!  This is not at ALL what I was expecting and it gave me a wonderful insight into THEIR openness to try and hear about "new" things, even if they weren't supported by cold, hard evidence. 

Sometimes the best things come out of what you are Not expecting.  I had been expecting negativity and some harsh questions and instead was welcomed for a different aspect. 

Here's the "Wealth" area that had been neglected for so long.  It is the dark room that juts out a bit on the back left side.  You can see the doors are open but it is completely dark and unused inside.

And a fabulous shot of one of their many laboratories:

I love what I do; I never know where my travels are going to take me (and I sure could use a GPS!), but I am always running into things I haven't seen before or seen in many years.  I was working out East on Long Island this past weekend, further than I usually like to travel but with speaking to this person on the phone, made a connection.  She had been in her house two years and she and her family had been having some health issues.

I know, to some, that Feng Shui may sound ridiculous to help address health issues but it is not an unusual call for many consultants to get.  There ARE things that relate to health in your surroundings such as leaks in the house (they relate to blood flow in your body) and staircases.  Why stairs?  In some cases when the upstairs steps have the downstairs steps (to the basement) directly underneath them, we consider that a hole in the house.  Depending on where that is located (especially if it's in your "Health" area), it can relate to health issues.

My ride out was uneventful but beautiful.  I sometimes forget about the wide open spaces that we lack so much in most places on Long Island; the buildings are going up so fast in Farmingdale and they are squeezing new homes in on every lot they can find.  These are not average homes, by the way, or in any means affordable.  They are HUGE, multi-million dollar homes with incredibly high taxes and absolutely no property. 

The directions that she gave me gave me an opportunity to pass these amazing towns:  Aquebogue, Jamesport, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Peconic and finally her town, Southhold, Long Island.  Had I kept going another ten minutes, I would have been at the end of the Island, Orient Point, a quaint and very old town (Notice the "Indian" sounding names?).  And it was a picture perfect day for the drive.

Her road was private and apparently, out there, they stop adding street names and signs.  So I got directions such as "turn left at the big yellow house" and onto the dirt road.  When I found the home, it was lovely.  There were no other homes nearby and she had deer running around (which I am not used to seeing!).  The house was set up well, although we made a few changes but there were stairs directly in the center of her home, what I call "stairs over stairs" with the upstairs going directly down underneath to the basement.  This is a difficult fix but it can be done.  It is just a lot of work for the clients and more then I would usually have to recommend.  She had thought of other things that might have caused health issues in the house but hadn't related it to the staircase.  I gave her a lot of work to do but some easy ways to accomplish them and we are both hopeful that this will help turn things around.

She allowed me to take some shots of her lovely  home and I loved her use of COLOR.  With the help of her husband we moved the love-seat from facing the couch to put by the table and opened up the area.  An easy "fix" for that room and it looked and felt better.  I am going to follow up carefully with her and we'll see if the changes have an impact on their overall health.

Here's a few shots of the lovely home:

Opening up the room, it is now balanced and lovely.

The delightful use of color she had chosen.

And a few shots of the lovely ride out there:  These pictures were taken in Southold and Peconic, Long Island, New York. 

This is the lovely old Raphael Winery, one of the many out in Peconic and Southold.

I will DEFINITELY be taking a ride back when everything is in bloom!  If you're coming to New York, you may head to the Hamptons for a great destination. Don't forget the North Shore of Long Island which is where these beautiful Wineries are located.  They give tours and are just beautiful.

I have loved the saying and the belief of "Six Degrees of Separation."  The theory being that we are only separated from anyone in the world by FIVE other people.  This notion drives some people crazy, because they are trying So hard to find those FIVE people or believe it won't happen to them.

Several studies have actually been done on this theory including an Internet study that bears out this theory.  And if you believe "It's a small world," the saying came from this theory.  I have always believed that there are NO coincidences in life; you meet the people you are supposed to meet for a reason, you get the jobs you are supposed to get, you learn the experiences you need to learn (often with resistance until it gets through to you!). 

I saw this example of Six Degrees in my daughter's life last year and sometimes it's magical.  My daughter and I have always been "Oprah" fans.  We find her shows uplifting and try our best to do things like "Pay if Forward" and help those less fortunate.  My daughter, Laura, had been away at college for some time and while mostly enjoying it, she hadn't made any very special friends that were like her.  She just wasn't as "in sync" with the people she was meeting but I kept encouraging her that her time would come.

She finally made a VERY good friend who she got along SO well with and truly enjoyed each other's company and loved to do the same things.  A lovely girl named Araba who my daughter brought home with her on of her breaks from school.  To be honest, I was as taken with this lovely girl as my daughter was....she was outgoing, fun, sweet and thoughtful and was too, at such a relatively young age, so in tune with the beliefs of "The Secret" (which of course wasn't out yet) that she and my daughter became fast friends.

She had told my daughter she wanted to visit her Aunt and asked Laura and two other friends if they wanted to go.  Laura and she were in school in New Paltz and her Aunt lived in the city.  The four of them headed off one beautiful afternoon to go to New York City; when they got there, two of the others said it was too nice out to spend the day inside and decided not to visit with Araba's Aunt.  So she and Laura went alone.....

I think the thing that first caught my daughter (being an art student) were the colors that greeted her as the front door opened on the Upper East Side to this magnificent apartment.  Before she had a chance to get over that, she realized who Araba's Aunt WAS---it was Maya Angelou.  Laura said she had never felt such a presence before and had no idea that her good friends Aunt was anyone she might have known or heard of.  She had lunch there and Ms. Angelou spoke of the value of friendship, of being kind to each other despite differences in thoughts or feelings, on learning to live without judgement against another for any reason.  It was not only a good lesson for Laura to hear, it would have been a wonderful lesson for EVERYONE to hear!  She then signed a copy of one of her books dedicated to my daughter and they eventually left.

 The apartment, just as a side note, was five stories high and had an elevator.  It also had the most vibrant colors Laura has EVER seen.  I think it was the only question she was able to get out and Ms. Angelou replied that she LOVED the colors of fruit and had wanted her apartment to incorporate many different colors so she could be surrounded by what she loved.  I wished I could have seen it...but who knows?  We are all only Six Degrees.....from the job we want, that person we'd like to meet, the things we want to attract to us.  That's not very many people, is it?  It's a small world, after all and you may be closer to your dream then you're even realizing.

I came home today from an unusually long ride out East on Long Island, New York.  I had gone to a consultation and haven't been out there in SO long, I had forgotten how beautiful it is.  How wonderful it is to see wide open spaces, our own little version of "Napa Valley" with all the little vineyards and deer.  (I do have a point here, honestly).

About a month ago I was contacted by a Real Estate Agent who found me from AR.  She had taken Suzee Miller's course on Feng Shui, an online course which is quite expensive.  She has her own house on the market, had made all the suggestions and it hasn't sold.  She was wondering if I could share any insights. 

I told her I would be happy to look at it and she emailed me some pictures.  The house is lovely and while speaking with her about it, I asked her if she had done the Blessings we consider so important.  She hadn't, and didn't know about them as they are not included with the course.

These are Transcendental Blessings and I feel they are essential to change the energy in a space and get things moving.  After an exchange of Red Envelopes (a Black Sect tradition to pass on these blessings), I was able to send them to her.  I wish I could say she sold her house, but to date it hasn't sold.  I suggested she could do the blessings at her listings as well.  I also suggested a few changes she make in her own home.

She called me last night to let me know that in less then two weeks, one of her listings sold.  And in the last two weeks she had gotten three new listings!  I think I was as happy as she was. 

After that long but lovely ride today, I came home to a package.  After letting out the dog, checking my messages and doing many other things to get to when you've been gone all day, I finally got to the package.  This lovely Agent had been thinking of me and sent me a lovely gift.  I thought of how wonderful it is to work with her and of the other WONDERFUL people I have met and spoken to through this incredible site.  They all go up in my "Helpful People"section and to that I've just added ActiveRain, which brought some pretty good energy into MY life!  Thank you!

This is an example of a truly amazing transformation I was fortunate enough to have been a part of.  My clients had, in 1992, started a hair salon with 5 cutting stations.  Over the years they expanded, eventually growing their small business into two, one which included a very lucrative and beautiful Spa located in St. James, Long Island, New York.  However, the two businesses were in separate spots in a strip mall and they wanted very much to combine them.

It was a difficult task.  A Salon is lively, open and often noisy.  The energy of a Spa, however, should be darker, quiet and more serene and tranquil.  They believed they had found the perfect building and called me in just before they purchased it.  We sat on the floor on that hot day as the building was abandoned to try to work it out.

They purchased the building and implemented the Feng Shui principles to create the two distinct energies and IT WORKED!  I wasn't even sure how it was going to turn out and although I had stopped by during construction it is difficult to envision the "finished product."  Yesterday was opening day and I got the first "sneak peak."  Please note that my clients decorated this entire place on their own while implementing Feng Shui but they did NOT hire a decorator!

The Spalon, as it is now called, is called T Carltons and is located on busy Smithtown ByPass in Smithtown, Long Island, New York.  Anyone out that way is more then welcome to stop in and "feel" the energy! And see firsthand their beautiful decorating while keeping in mind many Feng Shui principles.

  The "Spalon" in Smithtown, just before purchase

The entire place was "gutted" and completely renovated.  *Please note since this building had been vacant for some time, it had been broken into several times.

The new T Calton's in Smithtown, Long Island. Please notice this is still during construction but all the elements are addressed, it is open and inviting and all the wavy lines indicate Water...the primary element upstairs with all the sinks.

On the left is a waterfall facing the Front Door which is the Center of this beautiful space.  It is also where the cash drawers are located although they do NOT face doors or windows.  The pillars are not well seen but there are four, to "support" the owners.

Stepping downstairs, into the quiet and tranquil Spa.  Notice the rounded walls and furniture for a perfect flow of Energy.

Another beautiful area of the Spa. This area goes around the center and into the many treatment rooms.

And FINALLY:

I wish the owners Tom and Christine Many Blessings with their beautiful new space and for calling on me to assist them with it.

I am fortunate enough to get called to some incredible places with "behind the scenes" things I never would have seen if I hadn't been working.  In the fall I received a call from a gentleman who owned a beautiful restaurant in Suffolk County, on Long Island, New York.  He reported that for the last several years he found his money going out just as fast as it came IN.  He had once had a Feng Shui Consultation at his home but didn't connect with that particular practitioner. 

I was familiar with the Restaurant, it is well known on Long Island as being one of the best for Food, Service AND decor.  It has been consistently rated high on Zagat's for all three (and who wants to mess with Zagat's decor award??).  I met him at the restaurant and sat down to get a better perspective to see if there were other issues.  He owned the restaurant with a friend, and had purchased a large parcel of land that both Costco and BJ's were interested in renting for a space.  A wonderful new business opportunity, but he was concerned about the restaurant.  I asked him when he started to notice the money issues and he said it had been two years.

I toured this lovely place and found some things from a Feng Shui perspective that were not ideal.  Because the restaurant is located directly on the water, there is a large amount of the "Water" element but no "Fire" to offset this.  He also had a large drain located in the outside of his building in the Wealth area.  Most important to me, however, were the placement of the cash registers.  We pay particular attention to them and I found that one was in a direct line with the front door (money in and money out).  The other one had been placed directly facing a mirror---the place had many mirrors to double the beautiful water views but his money was hitting a mirror and "bouncing" outside again.  When had they been installed?  You guessed it, two years ago. He made the suggested changes and he is doing very well once again and about to embark on a new business deal.

Here are some pictures of this lovely place:

The outside of this lovely restaurant

A large drain in Wealth.  We offset fast flowing energy with a very large rock.

A small part of their immaculate kitchen.

On the back Right side you can see one of the "offending" cash registers.

The name has been taken out to protect the innocent :)

Can you improve on Perfection?  VERY carefully!

NEWSDAY has been the Newspaper of Long Island for as long as I can remember.  It is steeped in history and interesting facts.  I was fortunate enough to have been given a "behind the scenes" tour at what goes on at Newsday, and it was fascinating!

A few brief and interesting facts about Newsday:  It was founded by a woman, Alicia Patterson back in 1940. What originally started out as a tiny newspaper from a former auto dealership turned into a rival for Ms. Patterson's father'sNewspaper, The Daily News.  Newsday was actually purchased by Ms. Patterson's third husband and Sands Point, Long Island neighbor, Harry Frank Guggenheim.  He wanted something to keep her busy, never realizing her knowledge and determination.  With the advent of the tremendous growth of Levittown from the post-war era, the timing for a paper couldn't have been better.  Little did her father ever believe that she would run a newspaper that would rival his own.

Newsday's first edition was published on September 3, 1940. Eventually it relocated from Hempstead to Garden City to it's present home in Melville, New York.  It is an amazing place to visit and allows tours on occasion.

Alicia Patterson, Newsday's Founder

Inside Newsday during an uncommon quiet time

Newsday's award winning photographs line the walls to greet you.

Is this what they mean by "Stop the Presses"?

Some of Newsday's most memorable Headlines.

Newsday, The Long Island Paper, is located on Melville Road in Melville, Long Island, New York

It's no secret that I love Long Island.  But for fun, excitement, and lots of good Energy, you'll find me in New York City.  A few of my favorites:  Central Park, Soho with it's trendy Art Galleries, The Village, Times Square (with the not to be missed famous "Naked Cowboy.")  I make the trek to Magnolia's quite often and the very BEST tour I have ever taken was a behind the scenes tour of Lincoln Center.  If you hit it right (and we did), you get to see them practicing for an upcoming opera.  Or a ballerina praticing the same step over and over again until she gets it right. The artwork there amazes me as well. 

There truly is no place like it. 

I'm not the only one that thinks so.  According to the NYDailyNews.com, here's a list of the BEST of New York City:

Reader's Digest set out to find 100 American "bests" for its May issue - and ended up with nine of them right here in the five boroughs. "The treasures of New York bubble to the top," explained Maureen Mackey, senior staff editor.

Here they are:


MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Mayor Mike got Reader's Digest's nod as "Best Mayor on a Mission" for pushing to make 8 million New Yorkers healthier with his smoking ban, drive to get better milk and vegetables in bodegas and anti-trans fats campaign.

WESLEY AUTREY: The good-hearted hero leaped onto a Harlem subway track in January to save a stranger's life as a train roared over them.

STEPHON MARBURY: The Coney Island native designed his $15 "Starbury One"
sneakers so poor kids could shoot hoops in style without bankrupting their parents.

JOAN DIDION: The Manhattan writer was tagged "Best Second Act" for turning the pain of losing her husband into the critically acclaimed "The Year of Magical Thinking."

DIANE SAWYER: The upper West Sider earned accolades for international reporting, racking up hard-news "gets" while rising at 4 a.m. to host "Good Morning America."

MAGNOLIA BAKERY: The cupcake mecca of Bleecker St. gets honored for the confections that still regularly draw lines around the block.

METROPOLITAN OPERA: "Best encore"? The Met, of course. But Reader's Digest honors the high-class institution for reaching out to the millions with live Web streams and high-def theater broadcasts - which kicked off with "Madame Butterfly" shown on a jumbo screen in Times Square.

LIFETIME: The Chelsea-based women's cable network is cited for its warm and cozy office that sounds far better than a New York apartment, with "feng shui-inspired open spaces, 10-foot-high windows, private meditation areas, cedar-roofed editing bays and even places to nap."

TENDER BUTTONS: The tiny upper East Side shop has been a treasure for almost four decades for costume designers and button collectors.

Source:  New York Daily News.com


A typical Sunday in Central Park, New York.

Central Park's Husky

I already KNOW I don't think like many people; I don't think I ever did.  I am, though, a strong believer in SIGNS, those things that come along to you that people pass off as "coincidence" or just chance.  I also don't believe in Coincidences.

  A Sign of Abundance:

"A Penny saved is a penny earned."  "Find a Penny pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck." 

Ever wonder why there are so many quotes about Pennies?  Oftentimes we are so busy in our day to day lives of trying to get everything accomplished on our "to do" lists, we overlook the simple things.  Many times we don't see the significance in the little things that come our way because we don't believe they are important

How often have you looked down and seen a penny?  And walked right by it?  Because, after all, it's only a penny and doesn't really amount to anything.  Yet some of you WILL bend down to pick up a quarter.  Are you seeing these important signs for what they are?

It doesn't matter the amount, be it a penny or a quarter, what you are coming across is sheer abundance.  It's likely if you walk right past that penny, a quarter will never materialize in your life; or more significant amounts, for that matter.  We are ignoring what has been given to us.

A perspective relating to Feng Shui and Money (Wealth) is to recognize that every time we come across any amount, it is significant.  It was put there for us to find, pick up and thank the universe for sending it to us.  With the intention that more often then not, more will follow.  We forget to be grateful sometimes and we forget that it is, truly, the "little" things in life that add up and make us who and what we are.

A recent example of finding pure abundance came when I was outside blessing a building a client was looking to purchase a building.  They wanted to put in a very different type of business from what had been there and even I couldn't figure out how to deal with the two distinct energies they were trying to create.  Their heart and souls were into the purchase of this place and as I was walking the grounds and doing an exterior blessing, I came across eight quarters which had been outside of the property, neatly stacked on top of one another.

A sign of abundance that they would do well there?  You bet.  I   was excited to go back inside and tell them of my "find."  And my client related that he had been finding a lot of change the last few weeks.  He'd just found his new location and had a significant "sign" that he would do well and prosper there.

He called me tonight, the extensive renovations were finally completed and I am excited to go back and see his new environment.  And know that he found the place he was meant to have and created it to what it has become, although it was a challenge. 

The next time you're walking down the block and find a penny, stop and think.  And instead of just passing it by, take a moment to stop, pick it up and send out blessings for the sign of abundance you might have passed over before.

What about the "other" signs?  There are SO many we're offered, not just relating to wealth but to people, pets, others we have loved.  I am thinking about this tonight because of another "sign" sent years ago on Easter Sunday.  My father was a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force and served during the time Clark Gable was there making a documentary.  My father was just in very short clips of it; the whole "movie" was less than an hour.  My mother was here for dinner and rushing me, she wanted to get home and see 20/20.  She heard it was going to be about WWII but didn't know anything else.

She got home in time and had kept encouraging me to watch it so I left the cleanup for later and caved in.  Well, it wasn't just on WWII, it was on the Air Force in WWII (are you guessing it yet?).  They showed a short clip of "Combat America" while discussing Clark Gable in the war and it happened to be a clip of my father getting out of the B-17, apparently thrilled to be on LAND again.  A coincidence?  No, an absolute sign to us. 

I am a fan of John Edward, I have been in the Gallery once and have seen him at Westbury, Long Island a number of times; he astounds me.  He says that you are sent signs ALL the time.  If you don't pay attention, they will stop coming.  Do you believe in them?