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Designing Your Life
by Bonnie W. Mason

     John Cowan (not his real name) lives in an upscale Northeast Atlanta home off North Druid Hills Road. His home has tripled in value since he bought it. Is he a happy camper?

     Not at all. In fact, his physician has been unable to find a medication which will relieve his symptoms of despair.

     John's home is surrounded by trees which block all natural light from entering his windows. Dark wood-paneled walls and heavy antique furniture decorate his domain. When I visit John, I always want to hurry home.

     My friend, Jan Harper, however, who lives near John, is one of the happiest people I know. Although recently remarried and retired, she has always radiated a peaceful glow. Outside Jan's bright, turquoise front-door, blooms a fragrant rose garden. Sunlight streams through every window, causing her indoor plants to thrive. When I visit Jan (not her real name) I always want to sink down into one of her comfortable sofas and stay awhile.

   What does the design and decoration of my friends' homes say about them? Does their health and happiness influence the way their homes look and feel? Of course.

    What is not so obvious, however, is that the design and decoration of their homes may actually influence their health, happiness, and even their prosperity. Or so say the following three books, all of which examine the influences of seen and unseen forces of nature and how they interact with each other in the environment of our homes:

    The Western Guide to Feng Shui, Room by Room, by Terah Kathryn Collins, is highly readable. Some might even say it reads like a novel. According to Collins, the “primary goal of Feng Shui is to bring you and your home into harmony so that you are not surviving one storm after another, but are thriving in a paradise of your own design.”

    The best parts of her book are the many photographs, illustrating the Western Feng Shui Principles - which rely on a Bagua Map of the house and each individual room. Bagua means “eight trigrams”. Therefore, the map divides the house or room into eight sections. (See illustration #1 for Bagua Map.)

    The chapter on bedrooms provides some of the most detailed information I have ever read on how to achieve “sensual serenity”. The before and after photographs of bedrooms provide specific, detailed looks you can easily duplicate or approximate.

    If you are a single person who wants to improve your love life, Collins recommends incorporating soothing music, favorite fragrances, flowers, candles, and sensuous sheets and bedspreads of a warm color such as pink or red.

    Paintings in the bedroom should include pairs of objects, rather than solitary subjects. One single woman, for example, decorated one bedroom wall with pictures of 20 solitary figures. At Collins' suggestion, her art now includes happy-looking couples.

    To find the love and marriage corner of your bedroom, place the Bagua Map over a copy of the floor plan of your bedroom. Usually, it is to the far right of the door. If you have a television set in this corner, it may signify that television is more important to you than your relationships. To correct this, try a sculpture of lovers in this corner, a pair of red or pink candles, a pair of plants or two vases of fresh flowers. (No dead, dried flowers, please. You don't need reminders of any dead, dried-up relationships, do you?).

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