Feng Shui changed her life, in more ways than one

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This article was published 03/03/2002 (8705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Feng Shui changed Chris Levchuk’s life.

It started because she wanted her house to look better. It ended with a new career and a new spirituality.

A self-described “saver,” Levchuk had piles of magazines stacked behind chairs and a dining room so full she kept the doors shut so no one could see inside.

Then she met Eileen Weklar, a Feng Shui practitioner and consultant, and learned more about the ancient Asian philosophy of design and placement used to create balance in your home.

Levchuk went on a campaign to recycle, throw out and clean up. She ended up leaving her real-estate business and, at 54, began a new career as a flight attendant. And leaving her 15-year-old child and an “understanding husband” at home, she took a vacation to Italy on her own.

“I know this sounds weird, but I attribute everything to cleaning the clutter,” Levchuk said. “By clearing the clutter, I opened my life to change.”

Feng Shui (pronounced “fung shway”) is many things — from organizing items a store in a certain way to help move merchandise, to using certain colors in various rooms, to placing furniture and accessories in positions to help make your home feel safe and comfortable.

For Weklar, Feng Shui is simply “the feel you get when you’re in a certain place and being mindful of what’s in your space.

“I believe everyone practices Feng Shui. They just don’t know it.”

Weklar, whose home incorporates principles of Feng Shui, said people come to her house and ask, ” ‘Where’s the Fung Shui?’ They think there’s going to be Chinese stuff all over the place.”

Instead, they see a comfortable family room (“A room that smiles back at you when you’re in it,” she says), — a dining room with plenty of chairs and furniture with rounded edges, a homey kitchen and a cozy bedroom with pictures of Weklar and her husband and the things they love (and no TV).

Outside, there’s a welcoming front porch, a bright red door and a garden dotted with statuary, benches and whimsy. Along with being a Feng Shui consultant, she’s also a master gardener.

“It’s not necessarily something you see. It’s something you feel,” Weklar said.

Toni Forrest, an interior decorator and Feng Shui consultant, agrees that Feng Shui “takes the environment above just looking good into feeling good.”

Her business, Interior Visions, does interior decorating and Feng Shui. She uses the bagua, the Feng Shui grid that breaks a person’s living space into nine areas.

“Anything in life can be put in one of those areas,” Forrest said.

The nine areas include career; knowledge and self-cultivation; health and family; prosperity; fame; relationships; creativity and children; travel and helpful people; and the center.

These areas can be in different places in different homes. Forrest helps people determine where those places are and zero in on which to improve. “Then we set about to personalize — to see what they want to use as enhancements.”

Everything in your environment gives you a message. So something as simple as including joyful family photos in the family area reinforces the message of love and family.

You can adjust the way you feel by using color, sound and smells.

Clutter, Weklar said, is a typical problem in people’s home. “We have an emotional attachment to what we own,” she said.

Her advice? — Ask yourself three questions: Is it useful? Does it speak to me now? Do I love it?

If the answer is no, get rid of it.

And start small. Don’t think you have to do everything in a day or every room in your house at one time.

Feng Shui can work anywhere, Weklar said, from a one-room apartment to a huge corporation. “I’ve done Feng Shui in a trailer and I’ve spoken to the CIA,” she said.

But, as Forrest said, “It has to start on a basic level with creating a safe feeling in your environment. It doesn’t matter how beautiful it is. If it’s not safe, nothing will work. After safety and comfort, then we move to function and beauty.”