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Feng Shui: Wind & Water |
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Feng Shui and the Piano:
No Strings Attached
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by Carole J. Hyder |
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"I’m selling my grand piano," I announced to my friends, much to their surprise. I’d had the piano for 16 years, moved it twice, tuned it yearly, dusted it weekly and now I was selling it. And it all began with placemats.
I used to be a musician. In fact, music was a huge part of my life. I majored in music in college, played classical piano since I was about 4 years old and, at a certain point in my life, was a part-time professional musician. That’s when I got my grand piano. But it was never an easy road.
My sister played the piano. She is still a full-time musician in my home-town. When I was growing up, there was no question I would also play the piano as well. So I did. I took piano lessons, performed in recitals, practiced for hours, took more lessons, played for choirs, played for weddings, played for funerals, took more lessons. I became quite accomplished. I could sight-read and transpose with the best of them. But over-riding the whole experience was some kind of dark cloud. I never really "played" the piano----I felt like I "worked" the piano. The anxiety of performing was seldom counter-balanced by the sense of accomplishment that comes at the end. I was always critical of the outcome, and never found complete satisfaction in the creative release most musicians were getting. I could see even back then that, though I was playing for various events, I never played for myself. I seldom, if ever, sat down to simply play the piano to feel free and joyous. Nevertheless , when I could afford it, I bought a grand piano to reward me for all my efforts.
As I got older and moved into my Feng Shui life, the piano moved into the background. Initially days would go by before I’d sit down at the piano. The days moved into weeks, then months. Still the piano was my red badge of courage. It stood for all the painful hours of practice and performance. I deserved it and I would keep it on display for everyone to see. When we moved into our current home, the only place for the piano was in the dining room. My husband knew better than to open a discussion about selling the piano. It was not for sale. Never would be.
In the last few years, every once in a while I would off-handedly mutter something about the expense of having it tuned all the time. I pondered what it would be like to have a dining room. My husband and I would imagine the room with a table and chairs, a rug, etc. Then, of course, I’d remind him the piano was not going. Our cats took to it right away. It’s at a perfect height to look out the sliding glass doors to get a good view of the back yard. It didn’t take long before I realized I had to keep the keyboard cover down, because during the night we’d hear them chasing each other around the house and over the keyboard. That can be quite a surprise in the middle of the night. Then I realized I had to close the piano top because cat hair has a way of wafting into everything, even piano strings. So basically the piano was unusable. If I wanted to play, I’d have to unfold the whole thing, which of course was too much bother.
Then one day, I had a Feng Shui moment. A friend of mine was looking to buy a grand piano. Too bad mine wasn’t for sale, I thought. She was willing to exchange a beautiful, small upright for a grand piano plus some cash. Someone could really benefit from this arrangement, I thought. Someone who had a grand piano and who wanted a smaller piano. Someone who no longer needed their grand piano. Someone who was looking to down-size. Someone....... My husband was the one who posed the question as to what area of the house, from a Feng Shui standpoint, was the piano situated in. The Fame and Reputation area, I answered quickly, as any good Feng Shui consultant should be able to do. What’s it doing there? he asked. Shouldn’t your Fame and Reputation be reflecting what you’re currently doing, not what you used to do? Shouldn’t it reflect something you love to do, not something you have a lot of anxiety around?
I hate when he’s right. In one moment, the whole situation took on universal significance. The piano was no longer a part of my life. I was hanging onto it for all the wrong reasons. It reminded me of what I had wanted out of my music but never got. It was a reward for all my hard work which brought me little or no joy. Talk about clutter. This wasn’t an easy revelation, mind you. It took me two days to come to this point. I "tuned in" (sorry) to the piano itself and was moved to tears feeling its grief and loneliness. I no longer wanted to sell my piano, I had to sell it. In those two days, my friend had made other arrangements to buy a different piano, but that didn’t matter. I had gotten clear. I was ready to let it go.
As my husband worked to put it on e-bay, I worked to get my Feng Shui intentions clear in order to create the right buyers. Above all, I wanted someone who would appreciate its beauty and touch, who would treat it well, use it often and be ecstatic it was in their lives. In the meantime, in Feng Shui fashion, my husband and I began to make plans around transforming the room back into a dining room. When someone wants something new to happen, Feng Shui would suggest they would act as if it is in the process of happening. That’s where the placemats came in.
As my token of commitment to this process, I purchased some colorful placemats that would go with the intended theme for the new dining room. They would wait as a Feng Shui reminder to me that change is happening. I cleaned out the cat hair from the piano, played it for old times’ sake and released it. Within days, a couple from the East coast bid on it and bought it. They were willing to have it shipped from my home in the Midwest. I didn’t know how they were going to use the piano, how much they were going to use it, or for what reason. Not that it should matter to me, of course. After working out the specifics about shipping the piano and receiving their payment, we got an email from the buyers. They didn’t want us to think they were "crazy" but they were curious as to why I was selling it, how had it fit in my life prior to that. As they put it, they wanted to know "my intentions."
An endearing conversation a few nights later alleviated any concerns I had about releasing my piano. Both of them plus their three children were planning on taking piano lessons. They assured me the piano would be played every day many times. Coincidentally, they were turning their dining room into a music room! I told them the piano would be very happy in that situation. We talked about their lives, our lives, even Feng Shui. I felt like I had let go of a major part of my life to people who would respect and care for it. I knew I had done the right thing. The piano had found a new dining room to transform. The Fame and Reputation area of our home is free of a large reminder of something that no longer fit in my life. And we’re now able to move on with our plans to create our own dining room. I already have the placemats!
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Carole J. Hyder,
Feng Shui consultant, speaker, teacher, author and trainer.
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Carole J. Hyder has accomplished success as a Feng Shui consultant, speaker, teacher, author and trainer.
She has been a Feng Shui consultant since 1992, having studied with Professor Thomas Lin Yun and Roger Green, both master teachers in their respective philosophies of Feng Shui.
She has facilitated hundreds of private residential and commercial consultations in both traditions. She is co-founder and president of the Feng Shui Institute of the Midwest, an organization dedicated to creating standards for practitioners, providing continuing education and community outreach.
Besides being published in countless publications and writing a monthly column for "The Edge," Carole has published two books. Wind and Water: Your Personal Feng Shui Journey is in its fifth edition, has world-wide distribution and has been translated into Spanish and German. Her second book Living Feng Shui: Personal Stories was released in September 2001.
Carole currently spends her time presenting seminars and keynotes. She has developed a six-part training program, Wind and Water School of Feng Shui, which is now licensed by the State of MN.
www.carolehyder.com
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