flow of chi; spike of irritation

I've had this book about Feng Shui (14 pronunciations, it seems like) for years -- maybe since around 2000.  Even though I haven't arranged my living space in a Feng Shui style, I think I have got my money's-worth from the book, because I've looked through it about a million times.


Feng Shui might be one of those things which, for some of us, is better thought-about than practiced.


All this "flow-of-chi"...I don't know.  My head, and life, are maybe just too Western to really "get" all that.


One website touts the "Feng Shui Money Corner:  First Step To A Richer Life."  Mmh -- if arranging our furniture a certain way really helped people become wealthier, then wouldn't everyone arrange their furniture that way, and then everyone would be wealthy?


When I flip through my Feng Shui book looking at the photographs of rooms (and sometimes reading the text), I find my two favorite photographs of my two favorite rooms are -- one with a little dog reclining on a rug, and another with a black and white cat curled up against a cushion.


So what I really like, I guess, are sweet and fascinating indoor pets, more so than Feng Shui.  (A Feng-Shui Cat:  sitting on the floor in a position equidistant between the fireplace and the kitchen sink.  Fire - water...)


(A Feng-Shui Dog:  sleeping near east-facing window, avoiding the "oppressive light" that may come in through a west-facing window, plus no sharp corners...)


"Feng Shui Your Office to Advance Your Career and Make More Money."
(Mmmrfmf ...pop-up ad annoying...Am not finding Spirit Balanced, by this...)


"Top 5 Ways To Feng Shui Your Bed" -- okay, that's enough.


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But I did like these photographs, which come up under the googling of "feng shui" --





pretty







urban minimalist chic







European elegance




That top photo shows a simple serving tray set on a hassock -- I remember I was seeing different versions of that image in various magazines and then one day I saw it at somebody's house.  It was the first time I'd seen the idea recreated in reality, in someone's actual living room.


I assumed the wife had arranged it thus, because the husband was incredibly irritated by it.  (It's just a serving tray on a hassock, not a terrorist wired for mayhem, or an influx of flies -- I mean, things could be worse.  [Of course I did not say this.])





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