Feng Shui

Years ago when I was involved in helping people stage their homes, I studied up on the topic of Feng Shui which I thought was pretty interesting. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese system of aesthetics which focuses on arranging things in your environment in a way that will put you in harmony with nature and create balance.

This practice is very common with decorators and architects. I am all for achieving balance and harmony and getting rid of clutter to create better vibes. I agree with the overall concept that we are affected by the placement of objects, designs and colors in our environment and that aesthetics can affect one's mood and sense of well being. I believe there is merit to the basic premise behind this practice, but there is also some ridiculous detail thrown in with it as well.

It can get very complicated as it takes an approach of using astronomy and geography to achieve balance and positive energy. A special compass called a loupan (which looks like a trivial pursuit game board on steroids) can be used to help create the ideal life energy. If you are a Feng Shui enthusiast please don't take this personally, but there comes a point when if you have to look up the year you were born on a grid to get the numbers you plug into a compass, then use a protractor to do several other steps to figure out how to decorate your room, it starts to lose its credibility.

I have started my own spin-off discipline of Feng Shui. It's a simplified version called Common Sense and Simplicity. In order to give it a mysterious oriental sounding name, you can call it "No Doy". It doesn't require any astronomical equipment to help you decide what color to paint your room. You just use your brain for simple situations. Don't face chairs into corners or cram more furniture in a room than will fit. It's pretty simple and anyone can do it.

In all fairness to the fans of the real Feng Shui, I have seen many rooms that have been decorated using the basic principles, and I have to admit that I am usually impressed with the results. I'm guessing there's no place for giant neon signs or life size cut outs of Chewbacca and Batman if you are a die hard Feng Shui enthusiast, but at least your house will give off better vibes than most others.