From time to time I review books and I have just finished reading “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson. The author takes a sobering look at the history of post-slavery African Americans (how and WHY they migrated from America’s deep rural southern states to urban northern and Californian cities). This book is a must read for every American citizen and should be taught in all our schools. The author is a product of the Great Migration herself, a Pulitzer winning journalist for the New York Times (the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer), and this is her first book. Wilkerson interviewed 1200 people for backstory and it is rich in eye opening details yet very personal as the author follows the individual stories of 3 people, two men and one woman. The 3 stories are interwoven throughout the backdrop of history as it is happening and draws you in to really caring about these characters who are each extraordinary yet still “just folks” and were indeed real people who lived through this violent history. Until we can say that every citizen of America is truly equal and truly free, none of us are. And until that time comes, none of us truly have perfect feng shui. ‘Nuff said: go read it!
Monthly Archives: October 2010
EQUALITY & FREEDOM FOR ALL = PERFECT FENG SHUI
Filed under Feng Shui, gifts, Healing Energy, Reading, Self Help, Uncategorized
PUMPKIN RAMBLE…LOVE & RELATIONSHIP IN THE UKRAINE
Photo courtesy selectivepotential.blogspot.com
A very sweet article “Fear the Pumpkin: in Ukraine it’s the Big Kiss-Off” at NPR explains one of their scarier Love & Relationship traditions. If a guy you didn’t like would come to your door to ask for your hand in marriage, you’d simply turn him down by handing him a pumpkin. In today’s world it might not be so easy to find a pumpkin handy, except at Halloween. Some people can’t take no for an answer so I doubt they’d take a pumpkin any better. Perhaps people with stalkers should place a bomb in the pumpkin and hand that over to the stalker? What if Pumpkin Head himself is the unwanted suitor coming to court you? Do you still give him a pumpkin? He might take it as a “she likes me!”.
Okay let’s talk feng shui. What do you do if you want to ATTRACT a mate? First you gotta make room for him or her in your life. Get rid of the clutter both environmentally and mentally. You don’t need those old photos of lovers that done you wrong. You don’t need that broken engagement ring from the one who left you standing at the altar. You don’t need those panties of previous conquests(if you do, somebody’s going to give you a pumpkin!)…instead if you’re serious about attracting love into your life you can employ some feng shui techniques for Love & Relationship found in this blog.
BTW, if you have a better kiss-off technique than giving a pumpkin, I’d like you to share in our comments section!
Filed under Feng Shui, Fun, Holidays, Love & Relationship, Uncategorized
HALLOWEEN: GHOSTS, GOBLINS, & FENG SHUI
I’m recycling this earlier post in time for Halloween. Enjoy!
Filed under Uncategorized
RAINY DAY INSPIRATION: CEILINGS & FENG SHUI
Was it raining where you lived today? It was here in North Carolina and I heard from friends that it was in Maine and in LA, also. This photo that I first spied at Apartment Therapy and traced to another blog really lifted my spirits today. Such a wonderful image. I bet the Traveler’s Insurance Company would love this image, too. But anyway, this serves as inspiration on how to lift ch’i in your home. Don’t neglect your ceilings. If you have particularly high ceilings, you can circulate the ch’i by adding feng shui solutions such as mobile art works and hanging sculptures. Use your imagination…pretty paper parasols or fans or Tibetan prayer flags—all from Asia—could be mounted in interesting ways if you have the right space for them. Fabrics can be stapled and draped in creative ways, too. This photo (again, Apartment Therapy thank you!) shows an ultra glam use of fabric.
As seen at ApartmentTherapy.com
I like the idea of painting some ceilings with sky and clouds. This mural by Hove Painting Studio takes it to a very high level adding lush flora and fauna as well as sky. I like how the ivy spills out onto the trim, too.
Hove Painting Studio did this mural.
This photo from fauxplay.com shows not only a sky painted ceiling but also solves the problem of that awkward column. By painting it to look like a tree, the column becomes a symbol of growth and the tree of life. Traditionally that is a good feng shui solution. You could also paint faux ivy growing up the column and hanging down from it. Do you have a high ceilinged space that you’ve done something interesting with? Send us your pics and we may feature you on the Feng Shui By Fishgirl blog.
Photo of mural work executed by fauxplay.com
Filed under ART, Creativity & Future Projects, Design, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Home, Fun, Interior Design
FENG SHUI JEWELRY
A feng shui necklace by May Pang.
Synchronicity is always at play in my life. I had just finished reading the last interview with John Lennon & Yoko Ono and posted about it on my Feng Shui By Fishgirl blog. Then I was searching online for feng shui jewelry and discovered this line designed by May Pang. In case you are not old enough to remember, May Pang was John Lennon’s companion during his infamous “Lost Weekend” (a weekend that lasted 18 months in LA). I contacted Ms. Pang to find out if this line was currently available so I could feature it here on my blog. She graciously emailed me back to say yes. Each necklace represents a different auspicious feng shui intention such as Harmony, pictured here. The designs are simple, clean, and uncluttered—just like a space should be when feng shui principles are applied to it.
Filed under Celebrities, Creativity & Future Projects, Design, Fashion, Feng Shui, Fun, gifts, Uncategorized
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Photo courtesy of Weego Home, Santa Monica
This bright cheerful bedroom is from Weego Home. I do like the fabric wall treatment behind the bed. You can use this idea instead of a headboard if your bed doesn’t have one. It anchors the bed and balances the bed out with a tall dresser, for example (none shown here, though). The two matching lamps are good feng shui but can you guess why the two bedside tables pictured here are negative feng shui? They should be the same height and preferably matching. What we have is the right side dominating the left side. Gee, I wonder who sleeps on the dominating side of THIS bed?! A balanced set energetically represents a balanced equal relationship. Symbols resonate with us subconsciously and that is why they have impact on our feng shui.
Filed under Design, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Home, Interior Design, Love & Relationship
TURTLES & FENG SHUI
Myrtle the Turtle
My bf fell in love with another female this summer. Her name is Myrtle. She was walking (well, more like crawling but I hate to be catty) across the busy road and he just felt he had to rescue her. Myrtle is a wild Eastern Painted Turtle. Turtles have been in the news a lot lately. The BP oil spill this summer continues to have a disastrous effect on sea turtles (click here for story…note: pics of distressed turtles are not for the faint of heart).
Turtles are auspicious symbols of wealth and longevity. They are the guardians of the North direction (signified by the number one, hence a single turtle whether you are keeping a live one or a sculpture of one in your home is better for feng shui luck). The North direction governs Career. That’s why having a solo tortoise picture or sculpture in your office (facing towards you, not out the door) is a good idea. If you’re starting a new business or project, choose a sculpture that shows a baby turtle instead of a fully grown one to give you that “birth of a new idea!” energy, leaving room for unlimited expansion of your feng shui.
Dreaming of turtles can be interpreted as lucky as well. If you are about to start a new job, for example, and have a happy dream about a turtle, you can pretty much relax as you’ve been given a message that this career direction is a very good one for you. The online dream circle I belong to is serendipitously called “Turtle Dreamers“, named after Native American traditions (Earth is the turtle’s back).
We released Myrtle back into the wild at the end of the summer. We hope her feng shui was enhanced as much by knowing us as ours was by knowing her.
Filed under Career, Dreaming, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Office, Fun, Pets, Uncategorized
THE FENG SHUI OF JOHN & YOKO
I’m reading “All We Are Saying: the last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono” by David Sheff. A must for Beatle fans and art lovers, but more than that it is quite interesting on many levels. Thirty years have passed since both the 3-week long interview (the book is comprised of transcripts from those taped conversations, some of which you can find here on NPR) and John’s tragic death a mere two days after the interview was completed. Yet there are passages in the book where the topics are eerily prophetic (John talks with near clairvoyance about American car manufacturers still designing cars for the 40’s and 50’s instead of what today’s market wants and needs in a way that seems ironic now after last year’s automotive bloodbath) and very relevant to where we are. Time after time both John and Yoko say in the interview that they don’t have the answers, they are merely saying yet again what has been said before by others. The message is love. The message is peace. The message is do not follow leaders, do not follow us: get educated and make up your own minds. Then you will arrive at your own answers. Yoko Ono was much maligned by Beatles fans back in the day and the rants live on in blog comments being posted every day. The interviewer draws Mr. & Mrs. Lennon out on how painful that personally must have been for Yoko as well as for John. I am only partway into the book and I’m sure I’ll have more to add later on. I am finding the couple’s insights on Love & Relationship to be very meaningful and I think you will, too.
Photo of John and Yoko... from the book cover at Amazon.com
Filed under Celebrities, Creativity & Future Projects, Feng Shui, Fun, gifts, Love & Relationship, politics
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