Thoughts, Raves & Outright Beatings

So, this evening, I did some further research this evening on what else I could possibly do to adjust my room in it’s “Feng Shui”-iness for maximum effect.  And I came across this site:

Qi-Whiz.com

They come across with a “tell it like it is” attitude about this sort of thing, so I glommed onto it right away.  Of course, the first thing I find out is that the color chart I had been (kinda, sorta) following (as noted in my previous blog entry) in order to set my room up properly is a complete and utter fraud!  Even the person who came up with the chart in an attempt to sell the feng shui concept to the West many years ago stated as such.

Sure, those colors may work for some of us more gullible Westerners, but any true practitioners of the form, as well as any Chinese folks would probably either laugh their heads off or recoil in fear.  For instance, I placed my two black guitar cases in the “North” part of my room to enhance my Career opportunities, according to that color chart.

BAD MOVE, according to Qi-Whiz.com:

Chinese > The color of bruises, therefore a sign of evil and extremely unpopular. In Chinese science it’s yin shui, energy at its maximal dormancy, about to begin activity.

So my guitar cases are evil?  NIIIIIIICE….

Actually, a fear of the color black happens not just in Chinese culture, either: I remember my dad pitching a fit when I was back in my early teens, because I had dared to send a letter to my Algerian penpal using black-rimmed stationery - “You don’t send stuff like that over there!”, he bellowed.  But I digress.

I’ve been getting some bouts of writer’s block as of late, so some white and metal objects in the “West” of my room would do the trick, right?  Increase my sense of creativity, right?

WRONG…

Chinese >This color is the absence of life — death, mourning, ancestral spirits, ghosts from the land of the dead. It’s also yang chi, and energy on the decline.

This is not looking good, is it?

However, one thing I DID seem to get right is my chill space.  It’s chief color is red, with the body pillow from BB&B covered in a blue pillow case (because that was the only color for that big a pillow that BB&B had in stock, at the time).   I had wanted a change in that area, and the blue theme with the grandma quilt was not going to work for me, anymore.   A few red floor pillows, a the aforementioned body pillow, some previously owned red toss pillows, and, I got a new formation of a day bed, after all was said and done.

Per the version of Feng Shui promoted by Lin Yun, this area could also be noted as my “fame corner”, since the colors are primarily red, and the collection of pillows are all facing “south” in the room.  However, according to Qi-whiz.com, the colors also can represent “happiness”:

Chinese > Marriage and the birth of sons (”happiness red” is a fairly specific hue). The Chinese emperor wrote his edicts in vermilion. In Chinese science and philosophy red denotes spice, vitality, and energy at its maximal state about to begin decline.

I’m not keen on the “maximal state about to begin decline” part (well, I guess this inadvertently is representing me in my middle-aged state, so I GUESS it’s appropriate), but I’ll take the spice and vitality part.  I’ll also take the “Happiness Red” as well.  For my whole idea was setting up somewhere where I can be happy.  Be at peace.  Re-energize, if you will.

Then there’s the blue body pillow.  I like blue.  Blue’s my fave color.  But too much of it in that one space was putting me to sleep.  Which is why I hardly ever went there, unless I was having a sleepless night in the master bedroom.  And it looks as if, according to Chinese philosophy, that was the exact effect it’s intended to have:

Chinese > Blue was the color used for the sedan chairs of higher Chinese officials. Indigo blue was the favored color for peasant clothing. It’s close to the ultraviolet end of the spectrum and therefore yin shui, energy on the decline.

Energy on the Decline = Chilling.  Relaxing.  And given it’s favor among Chinese officials, I can feel like a queen sleeping on the body pillow.

So, if I follow one philosophy of Feng Shui, I’ll be famous.  If I follow another, I’ll promote happiness within myself and, I hope, others.  And I’ll be cool and regal with the blue, either way.  In all cases, it’s just as I expected it.

But can I be both famous AND happy?

I dunno.  Ask Lindsey Lohan…