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THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
CH'I-FULL LIVING
BALANCED INTERIORS LET ENERGY FLOW, SOULS BREATHE, SAY CHINESE PHILOSOPHERS
By Peggy Burch The Commercial Appeal
Date: SATURDAY, December 30, 2000
Section: Home & Garden
Page: G1

East has met West Tenn. Express Inc., an over-the-road trucking firm based in Jackson. Owner Michael McFarland, who employs 100 drivers, was worried that the atmosphere at his business wasn't right.

"In the trucking business there's a lot of intensity," he says. "There's a lot of chaos, pressure and demands here.

"I'm wanting a more pleasant atmosphere, a more inviting atmosphere," he said. "I think it has an effect on everybody's psyche and their underlying attitudes. Negatives or positives are created by what they see around them."

Two weeks ago, McFarland turned to a consultant on the ancient Chinese philosophy called Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) for advice.
Belinda Mendoza, whose business is called Design For Energy, formerly Nature's Design, gave McFarland suggestions. He needed plants to offset a lot of metal in the workspace, an aquarium to make the entrance more pleasant. Her explanations for her suggestions define the difference in Western and Eastern design.

"Fish are a prosperity symbol," Mendoza said of the purpose of the aquarium. "Bringing in water at the entrance, represents flow which for a business, is money."

The dispatch area Mendoza described as "very loud and stressful, a big, sterile room with everybody out in the open." Plants in the corners would create a circle, or harmony, in the room. She also wants McFarland to put a plant in the center. "It's grounding when you have a natural, organice element in the middle."

The advice suited McFarland's purpose.

"I'm trying to help the type of people I employ to slow down and stay where they are," he said. "It's no secret a lot of truck drivers just won't stay in one place, no matter what. They're very transient in nature. I'm trying to make an impact on that."

In the drivers' room at West Tenn. Express, McFarland put a logo of the company above the window where drivers talk to dispatchers and plans to have a picture of a red tractor - "we have real pretty equipment," he says - on a wall that used to be a jumble of bulletins. On another wall, he plans to put pictures of the drivers of the month. He hopes the changes will symbolize stability to his employees.

"As soon as I walked in, I felt the impermanence of the room," Mendoza said. "I told him, `You need to have this be more welcoming and to have some symbol for the business, what it is that you want people to know about you.' He really liked that. His comment was, `It makes a lot of sense.' "

Which is what is so appealing about Feng Shui, which means simply wind and water. The philosophy considers how physical surroundings affect people's mental and emotional health.In Feng Shui, areas of life including wealth, health, knowledge, fame,
career, children, travel, love and marriage are charted on the "Bagua Map" and correspond to physical spaces from public buildings to homes and offices to desks and table tops.

Interior designers say, "Good Feng Shui is synonymous with good
design." One of its tenets, for instance, is to position beds and desks so that a clear view of doors is available.

"Facing the door is common sense, that way there are no surprises. I command my space".

"Feng Shui gives you a feeling of empowerment over your environment. Everyone does some version of it without realizing it. It's design that has a good feeling, good flow, no clutter."

Eliminating clutter and organizing what's left is essential. The seven "Clear the Way" questions in Feng Shui are:

1. Do I love it?
2. Do I need it?
3. Does it support who I am now in my life?
4. Does it act as an environmental affirmation for me?
5. What positive and/or negative
thoughts, memories or emotions do I associate with it?
6. Does it need to be fixed or repaired and am I willing to do so now?
7. If it's time to let it go, am I going to sell, lend or give it away, and when?

A Western description of the philosophy of Feng Shui is included under `P' in Home Design With Feng Shui A-Z, by Terah Kathryn Collins, published last year: Vital energy - ch'i - is alive in everything, which becomes significant in interior design because "our material possessions are subjectively alive with our thoughts, feelings and associations because this energy connects everything and is always changing. How you arrange your house (or office) and possessions affects how energy flows through it.

"You don't want to be pulled in the front door and out the back".

"Merely owning a sofa covered with designer fabric won't change your life, but moving it to face the entranceway of your living room will . . . The flow of ch'i won't be blocked by your wasting energy waiting to be startled. And? Well, everything is connected: Say your sofa faces away from the room's entrance, which makes you jumpy and nervous, so you snap at your spouse, which brings tension into your marriage, which makes you eat more and gain weight."

Mendoza was Southeastern Sales Leader for a billion dollar company that sells medical products. She became fascinated with Feng Shui about five years ago when she read a book by Sarah Rossbach called Interior Design With Feng Shui. She credits the philosophy with her success in the sales field, and in October, she quit her job to make Feng Shui a full-time occupation. She does assessments of homes, offices and real estate and teaches basic Feng Shui principles in continuing education classes at University of Memphis.

Mary Singer of Commercial Realty Group/CRESA used some of Mendoza's suggestions when she was renovating her business on Oakleaf Office Lane in East Memphis.

"I was out in California at a real estate convention, and they were talking about balance and harmony and (Feng Shui) techniques they were using," Singer says. "It was just so typical in California. They wouldn't begin to put a building on a parcel of land without making sure it fit on the land and that it was in harmony and balance.

"I thought it was interesting and intriguing. I felt like it had a little connection with Native American culture that I so admire."

She asked Mendoza to give her advice about "things that clutter our lives. I wanted to make sure we weren't blocking any important areas of my building."

She wanted the entrance to be "very inviting, warm and welcoming." The effort has gotten results.

"Many times when people come into the space they will be standing or sitting there, and they'll look over at me and say, "This space really feels good". Conscious that Memphis's conservative business culture hasn't yet embraced Eastern philosophical principles of design, she says, "I just smile and say thank you. I don't go into any explanations."

Reporter Peggy Burch is at 529-2392 or send E-mail to burch@gomemphis.com
Caption: Photographs by Dave Darnell
(Color) The harmony and serenity of the entry area at Commercial Realty
Group/CRESA in East Memphis reflect principles of Feng Shui, the ancient
Chinese art of placement.
(Color) Moving water, like this at Commercial Realty Group/CRESA,
symbolizes "flow,'' abundance and prosperity - translate "money" in
business - says Belinda Mendoza, whose business is
Design For Energy.

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