Soft Metal energy inspires people to tell stories. To tell their story.
Even though I am a very private person, I am going to share a story about my work as the creator of The 8 Elements: Feng Shui for YOU!
A few days ago, a good friend sent me a link to an Instagram account she wanted me to see. Instead of a link, it said, "Cannot find this user". I really didn't think anything of it. Then, late last night, she sent me screenshots of the IG account and ALL of the posts.
I follow quite a few creatives, who generously share their work with the world. In their blogs, on their website, on social media platforms, on their podcasts and in their videos. They create valuable content that contributes to people's lives in meaningful ways, while promoting their offerings and services. Five of these beautiful women recently came forward with their own stories of intellectual property theft. It's more common than we realize, want to acknowledge or know how to confront. And honestly, it's heartbreaking that people feel entitled to steal other people's original work and words.
Big names have been called out for plagiarism. You know the ones quoting famous writers and attaching their names to the memes. Others, who are not capable of creating original work, reframe or repackage the work of authors we've all read, know and love and then charge enormous fees for their branded digital product, online course or membership program.
One of the ways I share my work is through classes. I have classes on the personal energy of The 8 Elements: Feng Shui for YOU!, Feng Shui for Relationships, Feng Shui for Parents and Feng Shui for Birth.
Another way I share about The 8 Elements is with my Personal Energy Guides. These are designed to help YOU balance and honor your unique personal energy. I gift them to all of my coaching clients, feng shui clients and everyone who attends my classes. They are now available to purchase on my website.
The most impactful way I share my work is through private coaching sessions. I offer personal energy, relationship dynamics, family dynamic, conscious coupling and business coaching. My most popular offering is the Personal Monthly Energy coaching sessions. I share about the energy affecting their personal element during the upcoming month, how to minimize any challenging energy and ways to take full advantage of the auspicious energy.
In 2018, I was teaching a lot of classes. I wrote a class called Crystals for The 8 Elements and invited the owner of a local crystal shop to teach it with me. I even invited her to co-author a book with me about healing crystals for the personal feng shui elements. I had set an intention that year to partner with experts in their areas of expertise, like midwives, healers, coaches and entrepreneurs. I wanted to expand my sphere of influence and get my work in front of the people who would resonate with it the most.
Besides inner peace, one of my highest values, as a Water element, is trust. I trust people. I continue to be trusting, even when people repeatedly disappointment me with their lack of integrity...because it's my nature, my authentic self-expression, my way of being in the world.
Unfortunately, I shared a lot of information with the co-owner of Mystic Ambition. In a weird turn of events, my class, that this couple offered to host and invite their friends and customers to, became a class Skye intended to teach...herself. I asked them to remove my name and the name of my class from their Facebook event. They removed my name but not the title of my class.
I'm not sure what's worse: having your work stolen by someone you know or by some random person on the Internet. In any case, intellectual property theft is not a good look...on anyone.
Blocking me from even finding her account on IG is a good indication that Skye knows she is using the information I shared with her to create the content for her posts, website and coaching.
After an intuitive energy healing session with me, Skye wrote a Review on my Inner Chi Mastery site:
Forever Changed
My life and business have been forever changed by Dara’s willingness to share her spiritual + healing practices and her deep knowledge of The 8 Elements. I have been able to better understand and connect with my loved ones as well as hundreds of clients through the framework of The 8 Elements.
On a personal level, I have also greatly benefitted from Dara’s super-thorough, super-in-depth Reiki sessions. I am so grateful to have crossed paths with Dara so I could learn + work with her in this life. I’ve confidently recommended her teachings and her services to dozens of my clients – if your intuition is nudging you to work with her, I encourage you to go for it, too. You’ll be glad you did!
~ Skye
Apparently, a few months later, she had become an expert in The 8 Elements and felt qualified to teach a class and entitled to profit from it. This action is a betrayal of my trust and dishonors both me and my work.
Eight Mansions is a school of traditional feng shui that all classically trained feng shui consultants learn. It's what allows us to place each member of the family or business in their best areas of the home or office and arrange furniture, like beds and desks, so they can honor their most favorable directions. Knowing the personal kua numbers of our clients allows us the use The Five Elements to support their personal energy.
The body of work that is The 8 Elements: Feng Shui for YOU! is MY application of feng shui principles to the personal energy of people. I have devoted the past 20+ years of my life to the study of feng shui, observation of people and creation of this work. My friends, coaching and feng shui clients, blog subscribers and social media followers know how unique my work and my voice is.
What I know is that I am in good company with the other beautiful souls who joyfully create and happily share their work. It saddens me that our labors of love have been stolen and passed off as someone else's intuitive insight and original ideas.
Soft Metal energy inspires us to speak. Speak up. Speak out. Get things off our chest. And clear the air. Something I have not done...until now!
The dark side of Soft Metal energy can present in many different ways. Soft Metal people tend to be passive aggressive and hurt with their words. Blatant lying and brazen deceptions. Childish name calling and scathing insults. Blaming and shaming. False accusations and outright fraud. Vicious slander and intense arguments. Identity theft and intellectual property theft.
Let's honor creatives. Credit them when we share their work. Direct people to their websites and social media accounts. And STOP THE STEAL!
As for me: I'm going to keep teaching and coaching and sharing my life's work. Because it changes lives. It changed my life. And I am so grateful for the knowledge, innerstanding and wisdom it provides every day.
If you and your family or business have been blessed by Dara Eden and The 8 Elements, leave a comment below or share your experience by writing a short testimonial.
Intellectual property theft is a crime. The information I share in my guides, classes, coaching sessions and private conversations is for PERSONAL USE ONLY! The 8 Elements is an Original Work of Authorship. No one is authorized to publish or profit from, teach classes or provide coaching based the information I have shared with my clients or on my social media accounts and websites, in my guides and classes or any other form of communication, including email, text and phone and in person conversations.
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