This is The World According to Buchs - Keepin’ it moving since 2003!

Last night, I was reading from a book I purchased off the $4.99 rack at Border’s about a year ago. It’s titled “The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui“, by Lillian Too. I really don’t have all that much interest in Feng Shui, per se. It seemed like an interesting book to have lying around, so I bought it.

I’d like to share with you a nugget of wisdom from the text. It’s a sidebar within the book, a story by the author of how she has applied the principles of Feng Shui, and how people have been affected by it. The good part is at the end, of course.

James And Maryanne

Take, for example, the case of James and Maryanne, who had been married for six years when James got promoted. Up to then they had been extremely happy living with Maryanne’s parents, and their two childresn, Todd (aged two) and Eva (Five), were growing up well. Shortly after James’s promotion, they found a three-bedroom apartment in London. Thrilled with the prospect of at last having their own place, Maryanne worked hard with the interior decorators, and they moved into their new home just before Christmas.

In the summer of the following year, when I came to visit, I was appalled to learn from Maryanne that James was having an affair with someone at the office and had considered moving out! He workede late most nights and had stopped taking her out. Maryanne was very near to having a breakdown.

The story has a happy ending. Fortunately, the cause of their marital problems was immediately obvious and easy to resolve. First of all, in her zeal for their home to look modern, Maryanne had installed a huge mirror in te bedroom, which had created the Shar Chi (killing breath), which was affecting the marriage. In addition, one of the toilets was located in the southwestern corner of their apartment - a part of the building that, in Feng Shui terms, can symbolize marraige. The siting of the toilet was literally flushing away all their happiness.

I advised them to remove the mirror and to stop using the toilet altogether. Today, nearly a decade later, James and Maryanne are still together happier than ever.