Oakland Tribune

Navigating the yin and yang of feng shui

10/2/2004

By Candace Murphy

WHEN San Francisco assemblyman Leland Yee announced earlier this year that feng shui should be practiced in all government buildings, laughter echoed all over the Golden State.

But perhaps the guffaws weren't so much because California was in the middle of one of the state's worst fiscal crises ever, and that Yee and his fellow legislators should be spending their time championing more meaty issues.

Instead, consider this:

Everyone was ridiculing Yee because he failed to navigate the one sacred rule of interior design before opening his mouth: How to practice feng shui without coming off as a new age freak.

It's a common problem. Take feng shui expert Angie Ma Wong, who claimed the newly designed World Trade Center buildings had too many odd angles and would inhibit the flow of free energy because there was "too much yin in the yang and yang in the yin." That story got filed in the "weird but true" news file back in March of 2003. Or how about the office worker (who wished to remain unidentified) who bragged that the goldfish bowl in her cubicle was helping her "career zone." She now fears her public feng shui fanaticism may have actually hampered her career's upward mobility.

"If people do feng shui strictly by the book, it comes off a little funny, or austere," says Kitty O'Neil, who wrote "Decorating with Funky Shui" with her sister Jennifer. "And people interpret it differently."

The funny thing is, feng shui is anything but new age. Pronounced "fung shway," the art is an ancient one based on archaic Chinese philosophies. Basically, it's a belief that one's surrounding environment can interact with one's own personal energy or "chi."

And there are all different kinds of chi. There's wealth. Family. Fame. Relationships. Knowledge. Career. Creativity and children. And the somewhat esoteric, "helpful people" chi. The theory is, if all these chis are flowing freely, then your overall health and general sense of well-being will be ticking along like a Timex.

But what stops that free flow can be a lot of things. A leaky faucet can just drain it away. Dried flowers could be drying up your relationships.

And that's where the new agers come in. In a generation more sarcastic and cynical than any other, new agers are the few who are unafraid to embrace a belief like feng shui, one that, when put on paper, certainly does look a little hokey.

But while this is the Cynical Generation, there certainly are the pockets of people who want to hedge their bets. The kind that don't go to church, yet sneak in a prayer every so often just in case. The kind that buy lottery tickets knowing they have a greater chance of being struck by lightning. Twice.

The O'Neil sisters say it is possible to practice feng shui without anyone thinking you're fanatical. The first key is to just keep your mouth shut. Think before you speak. You don't have to explain that your new wind chime is slowing down and helping disperse chi that is moving too quickly. It's just making a nice noise. Leave it at that.

But they also stress being practical. Instead of going so strictly by feng shui rules, they suggest incorporating some of their funky shui tenets.

"One of the major differences between feng shui and funky shui is that feng shui is all about the space," says Jennifer O'Neil. "But what do you do when you move? Now you need four fountains and three wind chimes. It becomes a bit of a burden."

Instead, if you need to enhance the happiness in your home, skip the fountain and put out some photographs of good times between friends. To boost your relationship chi, take the honeymoon mementos out from the box under the bed and display them on the mantle.

"It's all about fun, then, and it's all about you," adds sister Kitty. "It's about putting your fingerprint on your home. A feng shui person still needs to have a personal touch."

Another good resource is tickle.com, a San Francisco-based company that offers various tests on its Web site for users, ranging from an IQ test to a pretty good feng shui assessment test. The feng shui test has users answer questions like whether they have a lot of cobwebs or unhung pictures in their home and then assesses how good their feng shui is.

The nice thing about the test is that the results -- the full report is lengthy and costs $4.95 -- are practical. Yes, there is talk of energy swirling around that conjures up images of Van Gogh's "Starry Night," but the tips are basically common sense.

To improve your career, for example, Tickle recommends you keep your entryway neat and uncluttered, and maybe add a mirror. If you don't want to be all mystical about it, the advice makes sense. If your entryway is clear, you'll get out the door more quickly and make it to work on time. And you can check before you leave that you look professional and nothing's stuck in your teeth.

Ancient Chinese secret, huh?

You can e-mail Candace Murphy at cmurphy@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4814.

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