Fun Play It!
Fun Play It!
I happened to read a book on Feng Shui (sounds like “Fun Play”), the Asian art of organizing your space and stuff to optimize energy flow. I studied the basic principles first, and as I read, I considered my spaces and stuff, and made some adjustments. Our house is well laid out, according to Feng Shui principles, with the kitchen in the east, living room in the north, front door on the south side, and the bedrooms in the west. The bathrooms are centrally located, two of them with no windows, not really visible at all from the common areas. Since completing this house we have not done any remodelling and it needed some attention.
I approached my “problem areas” with these new principles in mind, with wonderfully positive effect. A thorough cleaning and de-cluttering always must come first. According to the principles of Feng Shui in Simon Brown’s book, Practical Feng Shui (Ward Lock Books 1997) I rearranged some furniture and other items, with little expense other than a few new houseplants.
Problem area #1. We have a small bathroom on the lower level, with no window. Its doorway is on a rather dark hallway, opposite a wall. I thought of this small room as a dark and damp hole and avoided it as much as I could. I had hung new dark green towels, but that didn’t help. According to Feng Shui, it had plenty of “water” elements, so I added “tree” (a small wicker basket with guest items), “fire” (a fragrant candle), “earth” (a small green plant in a ceramic cup) and “metal” (a picture with a metal frame). I exchanged the dark colored towels for white ones and lowered the mirror, so it wouldn’t seem to “cut the viewer’s head off.” Across from the entrance I hung a black and white picture with highly reflective glass. The negative feeling of the small bathroom changed dramatically for the better!
Problem area #2. My primary desk is in the family room, where it was faced to a south-side windowless wall. Over it hung an abstract design print with a heavy horizontal line. My bookcases were nearby, as well as cabinets for art and sewing supplies, but my computer was on another desk in my bedroom, upstairs. For some reason I could not work at this desk in the family room, but would pick up my work and take it elsewhere. Feng Shui recommends the desk face east, and the chair also. So I turned my desk, putting its right shoulder to the wall. I also turned the print so the dominant line became vertical. Now looking to the east I faced a window, where I added a pointed-leaf plant into my line of sight. I cleaned out all the drawers, and brought my computer downstairs, as electronic equipment should not be in the bedroom. These changes worked wonders on me! Within two weeks I had completed writing a book and several articles that I had put off many times! I love working at that desk!
Problem area #3. This was a biggie, a real test of Feng Shui. My husband has been retired for six years, and he has fallen into the habit of spending hours playing video games and solitaire on the computer, in spite of all my suggestions about cleaning the garage or doing some yard work or taking up a hobby. Somewhat sceptical still, as the book suggested, I placed a small dish of sea-salt atop a cabinet in the northeast corner of the house, and another one in the southwest corner. I placed a round-leafed plant by his chair, and another by the television that seemed to capture his attention for hours on end. Round leafed plants lower energy, making that area less exciting, and pointed leaves raise energy in that area. I am not allowed to make changes in his office area, so I placed a spiky plant on the landing of the stairs, a place he had to pass to reach his office. I did all this on Wednesday. Without my saying anything further, on Thursday he went out and cleaned the garage! On Friday he caulked the building. On Saturday he took the chainsaw and began clearing the undergrowth in our woods and hauling logs. Then on Sunday he loaded up all the debris from the cleaning projects into the trailer for a trip to the dump! Even I was exhausted by then, since I am the main helper. As we waited in the long line at the dump; I asked if the spiky plant had caused all this work? He glared at me: “Of course not! That’s stupid. I just have all this energy.” That’s the whole point: Feng Shui optimizes energy levels.
My husband and children scoff at the ideas of Feng Shui. How can silly things like something yellow in the northeast corner of a room improve communication? I don’t know how it works! But I am convinced through experience that it DOES work. If we are indeed made of energy, swimming in a sea of energies, then there is some connection. Our intentions become visible in the way that we arrange our spaces and things, and those intentions bring to pass the realities.
Feng Shui experts have a variety of approaches, some more like magic or astrology, and others that are a very subtle psychology. I have more experiences to share, but I am certainly no expert. Some of the suggestions seem silly, but certainly there is no harm in hanging a mobile over a cluttered desk, or putting another opposing mirror in your bathroom. Now I always wear something yellow when I anticipate a difficult interview. And I hung a crystal on a red string, in the southeast corner of our house, in hopes that it would bring opportunities to travel! And THAT worked too!
---------------------------------------------------
Comments & Questions? Email: womenbefriends@yahoo.com
I happened to read a book on Feng Shui (sounds like “Fun Play”), the Asian art of organizing your space and stuff to optimize energy flow. I studied the basic principles first, and as I read, I considered my spaces and stuff, and made some adjustments. Our house is well laid out, according to Feng Shui principles, with the kitchen in the east, living room in the north, front door on the south side, and the bedrooms in the west. The bathrooms are centrally located, two of them with no windows, not really visible at all from the common areas. Since completing this house we have not done any remodelling and it needed some attention.
I approached my “problem areas” with these new principles in mind, with wonderfully positive effect. A thorough cleaning and de-cluttering always must come first. According to the principles of Feng Shui in Simon Brown’s book, Practical Feng Shui (Ward Lock Books 1997) I rearranged some furniture and other items, with little expense other than a few new houseplants.
Problem area #1. We have a small bathroom on the lower level, with no window. Its doorway is on a rather dark hallway, opposite a wall. I thought of this small room as a dark and damp hole and avoided it as much as I could. I had hung new dark green towels, but that didn’t help. According to Feng Shui, it had plenty of “water” elements, so I added “tree” (a small wicker basket with guest items), “fire” (a fragrant candle), “earth” (a small green plant in a ceramic cup) and “metal” (a picture with a metal frame). I exchanged the dark colored towels for white ones and lowered the mirror, so it wouldn’t seem to “cut the viewer’s head off.” Across from the entrance I hung a black and white picture with highly reflective glass. The negative feeling of the small bathroom changed dramatically for the better!
Problem area #2. My primary desk is in the family room, where it was faced to a south-side windowless wall. Over it hung an abstract design print with a heavy horizontal line. My bookcases were nearby, as well as cabinets for art and sewing supplies, but my computer was on another desk in my bedroom, upstairs. For some reason I could not work at this desk in the family room, but would pick up my work and take it elsewhere. Feng Shui recommends the desk face east, and the chair also. So I turned my desk, putting its right shoulder to the wall. I also turned the print so the dominant line became vertical. Now looking to the east I faced a window, where I added a pointed-leaf plant into my line of sight. I cleaned out all the drawers, and brought my computer downstairs, as electronic equipment should not be in the bedroom. These changes worked wonders on me! Within two weeks I had completed writing a book and several articles that I had put off many times! I love working at that desk!
Problem area #3. This was a biggie, a real test of Feng Shui. My husband has been retired for six years, and he has fallen into the habit of spending hours playing video games and solitaire on the computer, in spite of all my suggestions about cleaning the garage or doing some yard work or taking up a hobby. Somewhat sceptical still, as the book suggested, I placed a small dish of sea-salt atop a cabinet in the northeast corner of the house, and another one in the southwest corner. I placed a round-leafed plant by his chair, and another by the television that seemed to capture his attention for hours on end. Round leafed plants lower energy, making that area less exciting, and pointed leaves raise energy in that area. I am not allowed to make changes in his office area, so I placed a spiky plant on the landing of the stairs, a place he had to pass to reach his office. I did all this on Wednesday. Without my saying anything further, on Thursday he went out and cleaned the garage! On Friday he caulked the building. On Saturday he took the chainsaw and began clearing the undergrowth in our woods and hauling logs. Then on Sunday he loaded up all the debris from the cleaning projects into the trailer for a trip to the dump! Even I was exhausted by then, since I am the main helper. As we waited in the long line at the dump; I asked if the spiky plant had caused all this work? He glared at me: “Of course not! That’s stupid. I just have all this energy.” That’s the whole point: Feng Shui optimizes energy levels.
My husband and children scoff at the ideas of Feng Shui. How can silly things like something yellow in the northeast corner of a room improve communication? I don’t know how it works! But I am convinced through experience that it DOES work. If we are indeed made of energy, swimming in a sea of energies, then there is some connection. Our intentions become visible in the way that we arrange our spaces and things, and those intentions bring to pass the realities.
Feng Shui experts have a variety of approaches, some more like magic or astrology, and others that are a very subtle psychology. I have more experiences to share, but I am certainly no expert. Some of the suggestions seem silly, but certainly there is no harm in hanging a mobile over a cluttered desk, or putting another opposing mirror in your bathroom. Now I always wear something yellow when I anticipate a difficult interview. And I hung a crystal on a red string, in the southeast corner of our house, in hopes that it would bring opportunities to travel! And THAT worked too!
---------------------------------------------------
Comments & Questions? Email: womenbefriends@yahoo.com
posted by MJS at 11:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home