Colorful Lives, Bright Spring Lyn Nene

I am filled with joy and gratitude in introducing you to my pathfinder, friend and colleague in embracing simplicity and harmony in our surroundings - Personal Space Visionary and founder of Wylde Grace Studio, Lyn Nene.

I was transformed when I first learned some simple practices about the ancient art of Feng Shui from Lyn decades ago. We instantly connected that our homes are an extension of ourselves and the significance of color and simplicity in the clothing and spaces that surround us. I have enjoyed sharing the journey with Lyn in getting to the essence of the services we offer our clients, transforming ourselves and our businesses.  

Lyn blew my mind with the way she fearlessly shed material things that no longer were needed, packed up her few remaining belongings to start a new life in Chicago. She continues to reinvent herself and her business in her 70’s. She looks and feels younger than those decades younger and understands the tools to live with ease and joy. She sparkes and shines and brings a swoosh of positive energy to every space she enters.

We agree that your personal space is the next level of expressing a harmonious balanced and simplified life and are introducing a special package “Colorful Clutter Free Feng Shui Bedroom Consultation Package” to Indigo Tones clients combining a personal color analysis with a personal space consultation using Lyn’s unique and modernized Feng Shui principals. 

Read more about how Lyn’s life has brightened, her work has evolved and her business has grown after discovering her bright spring colors in this month’s colorful lives blog. 

Hello Color Enthusiasts! I’m Lyn Nene, mentor, naturalist, wisdom keeper, theatre lover and Cubs fan. I’m so pleased to be riding the colorful wave with so many of you. 

I never made color a priority when I was buying clothing. If it was on sale, that was reason enough for it to find its way into my closet!  But over the years, big “Ah Ha!” transformations have enfolded.

My Love Affair with Feng Shui and Why We Broke Up, but We’re Still Friends.

Like many love affairs, this one came on swiftly and passionately. I was sitting in a dull waiting room, probably wearing black. (Gads, I owned so much black!) The only thing that drew my eye was an open magazine on the coffee table. Gorgeous bright colors illustrated an article called “Use Feng Shui to Change your Life”. I’d never heard of it. The author explained that this ancient Chinese philosophy using furniture placement, special objects like crystals and windchimes, specific colors and methods for clearing and decluttering your space could foster happiness and attract good energy.  I was at a rough patch and needed all the help I could get. What could Feng Shui do for me?

I was on fire! (Love affairs can do that.) I checked out all the books about Feng Shui at the Library and trained with Masters, practiced in my home and my friends’ homes and began to see some amazing results. Life just felt easier. Getting rid of clutter helped me think more clearly. I saw the correlation between how my home felt and functioned and how my life was going. I became a professional Feng Shui Consultant and things were going very well. Until they weren’t.  

ACT 1

I’m standing in front of my closet. I’m not in panic mode yet, but there are beads of perspiration popping out on my forehead. I still have an hour before I need to leave for one of my first Feng Shui clients. I’ve been feeling quite satisfied about how Feng Shui had improved the energy and flow in my home and I loved being instrumental in the transformations I was able to bring to my clients’ dwellings.

My closet was another story. I pull clothing out of my closet, try it on, reject it, and toss it on the bed. It’s getting late. I settle, once again, for my black blazer and trousers. Oh, well, it makes me look professional, dedicated and serious.  Right? The truth is, I could have been the poster child for the “What Not to Wear” TV show. 

The Break Up and Intermission

My first Feng Shui teacher was Carol Bridges, author of "A Soul in Place: Reclaiming Home as Sacred Space". She asked us to “Meet Wylde Grace, an energy, a life force, a Divine Feminine Presence. She is all things wild and wonderful. She is Lady Luck, Angel, Rascal, Warrior, the Egyptian Goddess Isis, Dolly Parton and Lucille Ball, all rolled into one.” Carol said that it's Wylde Grace’s  energy applied to Feng Shui that will bring our homes and work spaces to vibrant life.

When all the other training I’d taken  in Traditional Feng Shui  began feeling controlling, rigid, outdated, and just “not right” anymore, I kept returning to Carol’s work. Her view of Feng Shui was Soul-Centered and from the Heart.   Traditional Feng Shui had been designed centuries ago by men for men and was invested in very strict rules. I was also finding it often generated fear for me and my clients. What if I did something wrong?  What if I messed up someone’s life?

Traditional Feng Shui was relegated to a back burner on a very low simmer. I’d been in a tsunami of change for some time and got the irresistible urge to move back home to Chicago. I started telling friends that I was migrating back to my roots even before I had any idea how I was going to pull it off. 

ACT 2

Enter stage right - Kerry Jones & Indigo Tones

I’d had my Personal Color Analysis with Kerry Jones done not long before I moved back to Chicago. I was completely reinventing myself!  I didn’t want to bring clothes with me that sabotaged me. With her sweet smile and infinite knowledge, Kerry showed me how the color black drained my face and how the luscious colors of my Bright Spring palette made my eyes sparkle and my face light up. (I cringe when I think of all the speaking engagements I did wearing that black outfit). The only time I wear black now is when I have to, as an usher for live theater productions!)

I sold pretty much everything I had and only kept what would fit in the bed of my  pick up truck. I had a few boxes, 2 suitcases, my wok and an ancient cat. I was 61 years old.

Setting the stage for a new way to approach our spaces

Even though I had broken up with Traditional Feng Shui, the bits I was still friends with kept me going. I would ask myself, “What would Wylde Grace Do?” I felt her wildness in me that would never be tamed. I felt her grace that sustained me through some worrisome times. I relied on only those Feng Shui principles that brought me joy and made sense and that I could tailor to my life. I didn’t realize back then that one day these principles would become the core of my business, “Wylde Grace Studio - Vibrant Feng Shui and Brilliant Decluttering”. 

We as women have continued throughout history to weave the threads of creating a home into a living tapestry of people, places and things. It’s rare to find a woman who hasn’t moved her nest multiple times be she on her own, in families, or relationships. Homes have become the common denominator in our lives. We have been forever shaped by our relationship with our dwellings,  even as we shape them.

We want our homes to do more for us, but it’s a two way street. If our homes feel disrespected  and unloved, chances are we feel that way, too. Rather than bowing to “What looks good”, we want a home that reflects who we are, that supports our dreams and comforts and nurtures us.

Writing a new script 

I see clients both live and on Zoom and I notice more ease and lightness between us. I feel that I exude joy, love and fun, attributes not valued in Traditional Feng Shui. I approach my business now, not looking or feeling  like the black-suited rigid authoritarian Traditional Feng Shui consultant, but as a partner and guide. Now I inspire my clients to apply their own creativity to their dwellings and choose those Feng Shui principles that feel vibrant and useful to them. Yes, furniture placement, special objects like crystals and windchimes, specific colors (also many items you get to choose) and methods for clearing and decluttering your space can still be part of Wylde Grace Feng Shui, but all are used  with more consciousness and free will.

I notice I am attracting many women who are also reinventing themselves and are on the brink of change. They are stepping into their power as the playwright, director and star in their own life’s story, becoming acutely aware of setting the stage with only those props and set pieces that contribute to their tale. 

They find they want to live more simply, free from unused objects and other people’s stuff. I feel so much more authentic, ditching the black suit and dressing for the job. Here’s Lesley and I in front of her massive collection of family photographs. She’s been toting all those boxes hither and yon for years. We’ll be working together for the next few weeks, sorting and organizing, so that she can create a meaningful collection for each of her three daughters. (Can you see me all duded up in a black suit while we tackle this project? Me neither.)

Saying “Sayonara” to clutter allows for ease of movement and freedom of expression.

My favorite color?  What happens when I wear it?

I adore my bright red. Red gets attention. I feel beautiful and confident when I wear it, and find myself giggling when I get compliments. All of the reds are highly regarded in both Traditional Feng Shui and in my Wylde Grace Feng Shui. Red means fire, and ignites imagination, inspiration and passion.   

If you resonate with red, think about adding something red to your living space.  A pillow, a throw, flowers, a candle, a piece of art with red and other colors, or whatever you feel would add a little fire to the room. You can use your own red, or a combination of reds from your fellow housemates. Or don’t use it all!  It’s your choice. 

If Feng Shui had a soulmate, it would beHygge, (pronounced Hoogah), the Danish Art of living cozy. It encompasses all things that make one feel content and comfortable from sipping hot cocoa to indulging in yummy foods by candlelight. Hygge is the perfect antidote to long winter nights and gloomy gray days. Hygge is more and more a feature in my consultations. 

Already rich with color, this Colorado cottage embraces warmth, coziness and comfort. It invites family and friends to relax and just enjoy being together.  Even the dog relishes the red pillow we added while the warmth from the fireplace keeps the chill away. Find more about Feng Shui and Hygge in my blog on my website.

If I answered the ”my favorite color” on a different day it would be my blue. I love my cashmere poncho from the Indigo tones online boutique. It’s exactly what I reach for when visiting a client on a chilly spring day!

What was the biggest surprise about having my color analysis?

Turning 75 this year, I treated myself to a “Soul Portrait'' with Visionary Artist Katherine Skaggs. 

 

Katherine says, “Each soul portrait is an intuitive, channeled piece of art, revealing aspects of your true self.”How surprised was I to see the gorgeous colors in my Bright Spring palette show up! I had not mentioned anything about Color Analysis to Katherine, but she saw them in my soul. I was also very surprised by how many colors I’d been avoiding all of my life! How funny that I was asked to wear black for the sitting!

My Closet - Every play has a Wardrobe

I have chosen to live small and simple, so when I found a studio apartment overlooking Lake Michigan, I said “Yes, Please!" It came with one tiny closet and one slightly bigger one for coats and shoes. Knowing what looks good on me allowed me to weed out all the other stuff. Off season stuff fits in the bin on the shelf.  If I buy something new, something else gets to go! Here’s my application for “Kerry’s Smallest Client Closet Award”!

 

To be invited into someone’s personal space is an incredible honor and responsibility. It’s also a great joy! Wylde Grace is changing the world of Feng Shui one room at a time! I would love to help you change yours.

The most important set on your home stage is the bedroom. 

Colorful Clutter Free Feng Shui Bedroom Consultation Package

If it was "Opening Night" in your bedroom, would the story be a comedy? A romantic love story? A one woman show? A mystery? A horror story?  

Wouldn't  you like it to look like a room your newly organized closet would be proud of?  When you're in your bedroom, do you feel like the star of the show or part of the stage crew?

At day's end, it's time to sleep, to dream, to enjoy delightful activities in a room that reflects who you are and who you wish to become.  Let's write this new script now with Wylde Grace Vibrant Feng Shui and Brilliant Decluttering.

Once your closet is functioning beautifully after the personal color analysis, how does your bedroom feel? Did you know that the bedroom is the most important space in your home? You are there about ⅓ of your life. And yet, the bedroom is often the most neglected and cluttered room in the house. The state of the bedroom speaks volumes about how your life is unfolding. Is your bedroom the luscious, sensuous boudoir you deserve?

The Colorful Clutter Free Feng Shui Bedroom Consultation Package includes the personal color analysis with Kerry at Indigo Tones in addition to a two-hour personal space analysis with Lyn, complete with advice for Vibrant Feng Shui fixes and a methods to easily declutter brilliantly.