After my friend Jane told me a little about feng shui, the Chinese art of placement, I made several attempts at learning more by reading about it. I found the books complicated and hard to apply.

I forgot all about it until I noticed a lecture that was being given at Border’s by two feng shui practitioners. A friend and I decided to attend.

Little did I suspect that it was going to turn me into a madwoman. The lecturers gave use some simple tips about things we could do in our environments to improve the chi (energy flow). They introduced us to the bagua, kind of a blueprint for placement.

I spent an hour or so in bed after the lecture mentally moving furniture. I decided that my office was completely backwards, feng shui-wise, so the next morning I began rearranging things.

Six hours later, my office had taken on a new airiness and was more inviting than it had ever been.

They also told us that in order to get things flowing forward in life, we should go home and move twenty-seven objects that hadn’t been moved for a year. I had no difficulty locating twenty-seven things that were overdue for relocation. I changed mirrors and hung crystals. I fretted over sharp corners and pondered ways to soften them. I had a ball seeing my old familiar surroundings with new eyes.

What’s so intriguing to me about this feng shui business is that it’s a wonderful way to become more clear about the metaphors in your life.

For instance, after I moved my computer to the other side of my office, I needed a longer cord. The one I had was quite tangled and I was going to just plug it in when I realized it would be going through my partnership area. “I don’t want tangled partnerships,” I told myself and decided to take the time to straighten out the cord.

Now when I notice it, I affirm that all my partnerships are running smoothly. It can get even more cosmic than this, but I will resist the urge to go on and on about the metaphysical insights gained from moving furniture around.

 “Care for our actual houses,” writes Thomas Moore, “is also care of the soul. No matter where we live, we can cultivate this wider piece of earth as a place that is integrally bound to the condition of our hearts.”

 But, then, the Chinese knew that centuries ago.

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, a delightful introduction can be found in Karen Rauch Carter’s Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life. 

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