breaking the feng shui rules

Last night I sat down and read my blogs. The first thing that struck me was how long it has been since I had written, the lasting impression I had though was that if nothing else, I do make myself laugh. I even remembered a couple of emotions I thought I had lost forever... So I decided to write a few sentences, which I promptly sat down to do and came up with nothing. I felt a little disappointment and then realised I had spent the entire day doing a full clean on the kitchen and not having any inspiration after that would of course be perfectly normal. Plus there is no mirror in the study.

A mirror you ask? Yeah, a mirror. Last November when we went off to Durban for the week, the mirror on the armoire directly across from my bed came off its hinges and sat for several long months behind the hamper on the other side of the room. For those of you who don't know, that pretty much coincided with the last time I added any words to my Lexi book. I also stopped blogging (for the most part) and writing down interesting thoughts in my "everything" book. Of course, as a rational human being, I did not match the lack of writing up to the lack of mirror. It was of course just a coincidence. And, no one doubts my busy schedule - work, grad school, 2 toddlers, making teddy bears to earn a little extra cash. I mean, I usually think of it as an accomplishment when I find the time to take a shower. Writing is kind of something that slipped by the wayside.

About a week or so ago, Steve for absolutely no reason that I can fathom finally hung the mirror up. I didn't realise it. That night I finished watching Ghost World. Yeah, finished watching. You see, my neighbours who were feeding my cats while I came down to South Africa for a holiday were watching it when I went over to drop off my keys. They were eating a taco pizza and having a couple of beers and watching this movie that I became totally engrossed in, but unfortunately, had to leave for the airport. Had I gotten on my return flight, I probably would have finished watching the movie about 4 years ago. As it was, it slipped from my memory. So when I came across it again, it was like finishing something 4 years late. Or rather, when the movie ended, I was surprised to find myself still here in South Africa. It was really weird, I felt like a new-old person again for the first time.

After that I took a bath and didn't feel frozen when I got out. Then I sat in bed and actually wrote a few pages in my everything book about the last comment that I had heard about myself, which was that I am very pedantic. I turned off the lights and had the best night's sleep that I have had in what feels like a decade. I didn't feel nervous (about sleeping in South Africa) and no little boys woke me up, I don't even think Steve snored that night. The next morning I woke up feeling relaxed and ready to go... Then I noticed the mirror. So I got to work and told everyone: I had a great nights sleep and its all because of a mirror and I believe in feng shui and all sorts of nonsense. Now my boss believes in feng shui so much so that she had someone come in to our new office and dictate where everyone should sit and was told we need this, etc etc. So of course she took the first available opportunity to tell me that one of the most well known rules of feng shui is that you dont put mirrors in you bedroom because then you have a restless nights sleep as your mind travels through eternity.

But maybe, I need a mirror across from my bed so that I can travel into the abyss every night so that the next day I have something to write about. My guess is that writing is the only aspect of my life that I am completely un-rewarded for, everything else is either paid for or in the case of school, I pay for it, so I challenge myself to do well or like cleaning the kitchen, something I know is generally good for family health. So until Lexi is finished and published, writing remains completely and utterly selfish. Like the fact that I am going to go out and buy a whole bunch of mirrors for every room of the house. Except the kids room, I want them to sleep well and they dont know how to write anyhow.