My back porch has an assortment of wind chimes hanging from the rafters from where I can hear the tinkling music brought about by the evening breezes while I am soaking in our spa. Because the time I spend on the back porch is by far less than the hours I spend in my home office, a few years ago I also placed a water fountain in the corner of my office. Listening to the flow of water trickling down the sides of carved honey onyx and spilling over the smaller agate pebbles below it is almost as soothing as relaxing in the hot tub.

Perhaps I'm stretching "almost" a bit far, but hey, I do what I can to make my life and surroundings as comfortable as possible. I also have a wind chime hanging from the window to left of my desk chair.

Wintertime the weather limits opening the window in here very often, so the chimes are considerably quieter for the cold season. Regardless of chillier temperature, for health sakes please let some fresh air in your home from time to time. I routinely open the windows in our home for a couple of hours each week during winter to help circulate the stagnant air out and allow fresh air in. Just turn your furnace thermostat down a bit and open the windows. If you can't tolerate the cold, leave your window open while you are away at the market.
 

What Has All This Have to Do with Feng Shui?

Good Question! I guess, because for Christmas one year my husband gifted me with The Feng Shui Card Pack by Richard Craze to add to my collection of Tarot and Oracle Decks. The ancient wisdom written down on these cards are meant to help one make subtle changes in aligning the chi in the surroundings, creating an added dimension of serenity into daily life.

At that time, although I had heard of Feng Shui, I knew little about it except that it has to something do with rearranging your furniture in specific ways or strategic placements of plants or objects (living or nonliving) in the kitchen or hobby room to create harmony in your home. Also, Feng Shui incorporates choosing power positions for your place of business by having your desk facing a certain direction, mirrors on walls, etc. In extreme cases, perhaps even blocking off your front door passage and building an alternate door in the back alley.....(where perhaps no one can find it *laugh*) because this entrance supposedly is more conducive to bringing prosperity to your enterprises. Sounds kind of funny, huh?

I had been interested in learning more about Feng Shui because of my limited knowledge of it, but have not taken the time thus far to investigate it much. With the gift Richard Craze's Feng Shui Card Pack I realized I was being nudged to explore Feng Shui a bit. I learned very quickly that Feng Shui translated into English means "wind and water." See, now you understand why I was sharing my love of wind chimes and water sports (soaking in a spa is a water sport, right?). All kidding aside, maybe I have been intuitively applying Feng Shui in my life here and there without realizing it. 

Article Dateline: January 1998