Feug Shui

Today I spoke to a guy I’ve known for years through real estate.  Nice guy. I have always had a respect for him as a structural engineer. I was calling to have him meet my contractor at my house because the center of the house seems to be sinking. It is slow and steady –some movement.  I bought this house about eleven years ago so it’s not falling apart, but the sinking is happening in the middle of the basement and needs to be looked at. I’ve had an interest in Feng Shui since I had the experience of watching one of my clients have a house they were interested in inspected. This is when I first heard of Feng Shui. Not to get too far out on the edges, but with trying to survive and enjoy a fruitful existence there comes an open mind. I may have thought of myself as someone with and open mind before, but now, it is opener.

That said, in the practice of Feng Shui the center of your home represents “health” and, in my case, the center of my house is where there are stairways and, yeah, I’m really writing this down, the troubling slowly sinking hole sits in the center of the basement floor. 

I have talked the structural engineer over the years and he’s even come to look at the little ordeal going on at ground level.  In the trusted hands of my contractor who brought to life my bathroom while we were in Paris (oh, Paris). It seemed like a good time to call him up again. While we were on the phone, he asked, “How are you feeling?” in a way that helped me remember that he knew of my diagnosis. “I’m a cancer survivor,” he said. “Since 1991.” We shared a good twenty minutes talking about what a life-changing event being diagnosed is and about some of the parts of the “new normal” that are good. He has one lung. I told him I’d never heard of someone with one lung, which I hadn’t. Or at least, if I had, it was a fleeting notion. Today it was a voice on the phone - he takes singing lessons to keep his one lung strong, how cool is that? He sings his therapy. Me too.

Today is Labor Day. I spent two nights last week in the hospital after they found from blood tests that I had no phosphorous in my system. I am home and feeling much better. Foods high in phosphorous include nuts, dairy (ice cream), potatoes and who knows what else. Although I still don’t taste like most normal people my new normal includes a love of different textures and different temperatures. A big bowl of ice cream with nuts offers creamy, cool crunchiness. Is it health food? It is if you’re low on phosphorous.