I know the value of this body of work because it's contributed so much to me personally. When you know who you are and can fully embody it, you are free to fulfill your life purpose and follow your life path. You can stop trying to be something other than who you are. You can just BE YOU! Your True Self. And it's life changing!
Integrity includes honoring what you are given.
~ Ann O'Brien
My work doesn't end with studying traditional feng shui, observing people, writing, teaching and coaching. Part of my mission is to find ways to contribute and share The 8 Elements™ in ways that will honor the true gift that it is.
In the now decades of doing this work, unfortunately I've come across some greedy and manipulative, dishonest and unethical people. It's been really disappointing and disheartening to see humans behave in these ways. Since the intellectual property theft, in particular, I've been contemplating how to get this body of work out into the world in a way that would honor it with the most integrity.
The problem today is people don't cherish good people, they try to use them.
~ Bob Marley
Some of my favorite people in the world, good humans, beautiful souls and even the greatest masters have all been copied and mimicked, their intellectual property stolen, not credited and taken by lesser people without the knowledge, expertise or integrity to even work in the field or with the public.
These kinds of people don't understand how energy works. When you take something, you incur an energetic debt that you'll have to pay back at some point. Until balance is restored, that person's life, health, relationships and finances are negatively affected. It's a condition and situation of their own making. And only their own choices, actions and intentions can make things right again.
I think copyright is moral, proper. I think a creator has the right to control the disposition of his or her works. I actually believe that the financial issue is less important than the integrity of the work, the attribution, that kind of stuff.
~ Esther Dyson
The legal system is designed to repair the damage done to the injured party, to make them whole. The problem is, a legal judgment awarding financial compensation cannot truly repair the damage or restore what's been lost. No amount of money can heal my heart or restore my faith in the goodness of humans who feel entitled to take and profit from work that's not theirs to share. No cease and desist letter will stop the sharing, teaching, coaching, and speaking. And copyrights won't keep people from using the information for their own purposes or against other people.
I remember when I took a weekend workshop about creating peace within the relationships between men and women, we were asked to "lay down our sword" before being allowed to take the rest of the sessions. Then, before we left on Sunday, we were asked to take an oath not to use what we'd learned to intentionally hurt men. The knowledge was so valuable, so transformational, and so dangerous in the wrong hands that we were asked to vow to have integrity in our relationships with men.
I've had to process all of my thoughts and feelings. Make peace with the past and take the current state of human consciousness into consideration as I plan the best way to move forward with publishing and sharing The 8 Elements™ with a wider audience.
I've been told that being taken from was karma. That I was stupid to share without a signed NDA. Naive to trust people I obviously didn't know very well. That I should be fine with people teaching my life's work as long as they give me credit and that they are out of integrity when they don't. All interesting, maybe even valid, yet none of them resonate with me.
After the initial incident, I realized I attracted this experience because of uncertainty and my own insecurities about wider distribution beyond blogs and guides, private coaching and small classes. That year I had set the intention to create partnerships with people who resonated with The 8 Elements™ and had areas of expertise that complemented this unique personality typing system. We all know how well that went.
How people treat other people is a direct reflection of how they feel about themselves.
~ Paulo Co
Sometimes there are several contributing factors. And sometimes, people are just shitty.
Does my trusting nature and generosity tend to attract takers? Probably. Am I the common denominator in every bad experience I have with people? Absolutely. And, when people show me who they are, I believe them.
And how I respond to their behavior reflects who I am, who I'm being in that moment.
Yet, I still give myself permission to be me. I'm going to keep giving what I know and have to share. And I'm going to keep trusting that who people really are on a soul level will overcome the tendencies of their human character flaws.
As a Water element, after inner peace, one of my highest values is trust. I trust people before they've earned my trust. And it's set me up to be disappointed in humans time and again. So, I take full responsibility for trusting people. But once the betray my trust, I'm done. I withdraw my energy and stop contributing to them.
In the flow of my Water energy, I give abundantly and generously. To those who receive with genuine expressions of appreciation, I continue to give. And to those who take, my energy ebbs and I stop giving.
Trust is a byproduct of value you create. Value is reflection of your conscious action and dreams.
~ Ankit Samrat
I'm still in the process of making peace with the fact that once the series of books is published, I have no control over who reads them, how they apply the knowledge or how they choose to use the information.
So, maybe all I can do is have good intentions, keep doing the work, provide clarity about who this body of work is for, trust in the value I've created and hold the vision I have for The 8 Elements™.
In the meantime...
After studying the female entrepreneur and online business space and completely rejecting all of its patriarchal control systems, competitive games and predatory practices, I'm seeking ways to contribute that are in alignment with my values and vision for what's possible.
I refuse to use almost all of the Big Tech platforms, apps and tools like SEO, ads and algorithms. And honestly, while I do still post on all my accounts, I'm over Instagram.
I said no to ALL THE THINGS the big names do and say to do.
• Finding and pushing on people's pain points? No.
• Being in business just to make lots of money or get rich, so you can brag about making 6 figures or when you reach 7 figures, be able to say you're a millionaire? No.
• Using marketing and sales tactics like sales funnels, email campaigns, creating a false sense of urgency through limited time offers, yearly launches and FOMO via threats of closing carts? No.
• Offering FREE webinars or master classes that are really just a sales pitch for your product, membership, program or service? No.
• Creating a freebie in exchange for names and email addresses so you can email them non-stop? No.
• Creating free content consistently everyday on social media to get followers who seldom ever become clients or customers? No.
• Making it all about me? Creating a brand with my image or getting a domain for a website with my name? No.
• Trying to become a celebrity or household name or win some beauty pageant or popularity contest? No.
• Charging exorbitant fees? No.
There's got to be another way to contribute. A way that honors original creators and authors, properly credits and appropriately financially rewards them, honors the body of work itself and honors the people who truly value and appreciate the knowledge and wisdom.
So, that's what I'll be doing over here in my corner of the Internet this year. Sharing with everyone who resonates with and honors The 8 Elements. For now that looks like writing annual personal energy guides and monthly blogs, offering private personal energy coaching and growing The 8 Elements Mastery monthly membership.
☯
For personal energy or relationship dynamics coaching, contact me!
Or, read about my coaching packages.
If you’re ready to get professionally feng shui’d, read about Virtual Feng Shui Consultations.
To read more about The 8 Elements, subscribe to the Feng Shui Yourself blog.
Learn about my other Inner Chi Mastery offerings.
Subscribe to Feng Shui Yourself on Substack.
If you enjoyed this publication, please like, comment and share!
