Labor Day: is it the last hooray or a new beginning?

Do we cry tears for the end of summer or do we celebrate a new order? Let feng shui help us figure this out and guide us with valuable points from linear to cyclical thinking. In our discontinuous and fragmented digital world, vacations are reminders that life used to be and still could be cyclical. Holidays are mile markers in a circular pattern of eternal returns. They are seasonal and characterized by climate and cultural habits. Traditionally, he stopped wearing white on Labor Day, took off his summer covers, and kept the straw hat until Memorial Day.

Labor Day is the symbolic end of summer with one last round of picnics or family getaways before the official closing of the pools and beaches. With Labor Day we prepare for the fall and winter season. Nature is completing its growth cycle and children are going back to school. After spreading out into summer parties and vacations, we are creating a new order of more focused activities. There is more definition with a protocol to follow at work and at school. Therefore, we declare Labor Day as a metal holiday in the cycle of feng shui elements.

The metallic element resonates with the shape of the circle and with the colors white, silver and gold. Metal is dense and gravity-laden and pulls toward the center. The circle is the only shape that has a natural center point with the same distance to any point on the perimeter. Therefore, the circle and the metal element have strong focusing and finishing characteristics.

The metallic element is reflective. By looking in a mirror, we can see things that we need to pay attention to, just as artists look at their work in a mirror to discover what it is they want to change. A round mirror could reinforce the force of focus just like a dart board with a target. With circles more than any other shape, we must distinguish between seeing and being. Circles are powerful equalizers, as being in a circle erases boundaries and hierarchies.

With feng shui as your guide, let’s discard the chaos and laissez-faire of summer and create a new protocol for a productive order of fall activities. Here are our helpful tips and advice:

• Install a bulletin board in an easily visible area, perhaps in the hallway or in the kitchen next to the refrigerator.
• Use colored posters as reminders of special events.
• Establish regular and additional to-do lists and use “happy faces” as completion signs.
• Give preference to the metallic element when placing decorative elements in more prominent positions.
• For harmonious groupings, use the host and guest rule by placing larger items with smaller objects in odd numbers.
• Create highly readable focal points to capture your gaze as an attention-grabbing device. Some examples are:
• A colorful picture on a wall opposite when entering
• A sculpture we have a pedestal in a far corner
• A crystal ball as a focal point on your desk
• Visually expand a narrow hallway with a round mirror
• Provide focal points for children’s bedrooms to encourage good study habits:
• Perhaps a ball that sits on a spiral
• A globe instead of a world map
• An image of our planetary system
• Round colored pillows on a polka dot bedspread
• With the splendor of your summer flowers fading, start thinking about your winter garden and install a stainless steel observation ball. As a reflective sphere, it represents the essence of the metallic element.
• If space allows, use large round stones of various sizes as path markers leading to your gazebo.
• With winter snow and fantasy, they will turn into charming little garden gnomes.

Labor Day is a natural milestone that gives us a sense of completion, thus ending summer activities while focusing on seasonal transitions and creating a new order. With good feng shui as a way of life, we honor the yin and yang of work and leisure.