My Family's Feng Shui Fun

The following are proof of how Feng Shui has helped our home and family life. Of course, I'm not discounting hardwork and our core beliefs, but rather, this is in full complement of it. It is a long post, but if you want to understand how it really works, I suggest you grab a comfy seat, hot mug of good drink (LDS approved), and get to readin'. Or print out a copy, it really doesn't matter...

I figured,(after the light bulb above my head almost burned out ) how can I teach anyone without proof of my own successes and failures, right? Right!

Warning: This is not a magic cure; it is a philosophy of common sense into how you affect your immediate environment and how environment can affect you. (Of course, if you get a drastic outpouring of good luck, make sure to share with your "sensei", lol!)

Kwai Lan explains: "Feng means wind and Shui means water. The ancient Chinese scholars discovered that wind and water affect our environment and well being. Weather is created by the changing of temperatures, which is caused by the rise and fall of the sun and the moon. This is how yin and yang chi is formed which creates the environment we live in. Both wind and water react to change of temperatures, landscape & the motion of the earth."(Imperial Feng Shui)

Using the bagua, my home currently looks like this: (I'll try to find some pics to show you)

1. From my front door, is the CAREER area, so on the right side (coming in), is our home rules framed in a simple black asian style. Coming in, we welcome all opportunities of networking such as friendships and contacts. Coming out, our home rules serve as a reminder of who we are and who we should be to establish our own reputations to others. Since the couch is on this wall, I chose a dark brown sleeper sofa (black iron) with dark brown feet to continue the black element. I chose a red ottoman/storage to bring down the red from the picture of Christ as a reminder that He is the source of our fame and reputation.

2. My dining room fell into the TRAVEL area so the nickel finish of the light activates this part of our lives very well. We’ve traveled much more last year, than we’ve ever done the past three years alone. Remember that illumination in Feng Shui also connotates emphasis, so if you want to focus your life in a particular area, create an emphasis.

3. The CHILDREN area aptly fell into my kitchen. Since the light and the walls are white in this part of our home, again this part of our lives was very much emphasized. Example, my blogs in 2008. I lucked out; we have had much fun in this kitchen creating delicious treats together.

4. Our laundry room fell into the LOVE & FRIENDSHIP area. Again, you can use whites in this corner. For me, to strengthen this part of my chi harnessing abilities, I displayed our detergents and softeners to renew and welcome new friendships and soften our hearts to others, exhibiting more Christ-like attributes. Again, I found most of the people that I cared about through their blogs, emails, and Facebook. Plus, I partially credit this to my success with my genealogy searches (add that to countless prayers of inspiration). I found 4 families so far, connected to us and hundreds of names to add to the list! Our cat also eats here, and you know, food is a sign of caring, which is encompassed by Charity. I found three great friends here in our townhome within a year. That's an awesome result!

5. This is the first thing you see when you come into my home. Our bedroom and the stairs up to the other bedrooms fell into the FAME and REPUTATION area. Separating the two is a floor to ceiling load-bearing wall. I placed our entertainment center on this wall creating a vertical focal point and to activate this powerful chi, I hung the picture of Christ (the best amulet of good) on the wall, and in front, sitting on the entertainment center, are two flat rounded Asian vases with small necks, and my dragon. This vignette symbolizes our faith as a family and the vases serve as my yin chi harvesters. The red robe of Christ and the golden tint of the dragon activate this area of our lives, ensuring others of our reputations.

6. The bottom of the stairs fell in the WEALTH area and since we are not bothered by how much wealth we want to enjoy, I focused this area more on our comfort level. I placed our shoe cubbies and had hooks for jackets to be hung. Above the jackets, I hung a painting of commercial planes that I got Charlie. It signifies freedom and choice, which are two components of true wealth and prosperity. Also, wealth comes from income; this poster reminds us that our source of stability and comfort is Charlie’s job at Southwest Airlines. Remember that wealth means accumulation of what you value, and right now, we value the comfort of our children. So having their shoes and big jackets in this area activates the chi to fulfill our needs balanced with wants.

7. This is how I knew we had a great place. How many people realize that career and family should strike a delicate balance? Our prophets of old and now! My side door is in the FAMILY AND PHYSICAL HEALTH area and it created a meandering path for both my yin and yang chi! The yin can linger and the yang can slow down so we can refocus as a family and be able to support Charlie’s schedule changes. Last year, when this was blocked all the time due to the reorganizing we did, we got sick a lot and didn’t like being in the living room. My fireplace is also in this area; when we use the fireplace, the fire serves to strengthen our bond and the simple beam mantle acts as a stripe to keep it activated. I also use my floral frames of our family pictures to keep this section of our lives activated. I told you I love my family! Fire comes from wood, so when you light up a firewood, you are definitely focusing on this area of your life. I also had a plant on the mantle. It survived despite lack or regular watering, a sign of the strength of our family values.

8. This corner or the KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM area, I hung Charlie’s Mt. Bachelor framed poster. The mountain serves as a reminder that knowledge knows no limits and wisdom tempers knowledge. The blue sky in the poster and the green trees growing all over the snowy mountain is a strong activator of this area. The result, all three of my children got into the advanced programs and all are doing really well in school. To temper it, I placed the cat tree that Charlie made for our cat Cece. This represents compassion, which is more important than blind accumulation of knowledge. Compassion invites wisdom and contentment in this area.

9. The middle of our living room or the SPIRITUAL HEALING AND WELL BEING is already set for us when we moved in. It’s beige which fell in the earth tones family. We chose not to cover the carpet so that we always have a gathering space on the floor where we can regroup. We have done picnics, games, testimonies, scripture reading and parties using this small area. This is in the middle because this represents the core of your own chi, or life force. You block this with too much color from the other areas of your life and it can be assumed that this is what you truly value. If you must use a rug to anchor your living room or den, choose one with your favorite color as the accent and the activator color as the main or background color of the rug.

I follow Lillian Too's book on Feng Shui basics(Easy to Use Feng Shui: 168 ways to success) and pepper it with the Western practice like Stephanie Williams' (this is why I love to watch FUN SHUI on Friday mornings, HGTV) to apply my sensibilities to my own interior decorating and redesigning approaches. I am also part Chinese, on both sides. My paternal side, my grandmother is pure Chinese, raised in the Philippines, by parents who immigrated from Amoy, China. now known as Xiamen. Feng Shui is part of my birth right, it was my grandmother's approach to the simple life she lead. She had a strong sense of family about her. I miss her so much for awakening this part of who I am. She was a great maternal influence in the Lacho clan. I wish to be at least an eighth of who she was...

I told you it was a long post; if you managed to stay awake during your reading, then you must be truly interested in making your life better. If not, sorry it was so long. If you printed it out for a later read, then you are one sly cookie!