Elements of Feng Shui

My husband and I just returned from five days in Mexico. Every year we try to make this a ritual—get away before the holidays. We come back refreshed and ready for celebration. I love Mexico so much because it truly takes me out of my element. Whenever I describe these trips, I find myself using that term a lot: “I’m getting out of my element,” “The trip brings a different element to my life,” “The experience takes me out of my element.” And although it may sound uncomfortable to do this or something I would typically want to avoid, there are times when I ache for it.

I had a realization one idyllic day during our vacation while sipping a pina colada, with my toes in the sand and the roar of the ocean in my ears----conditions perfect for an intellectual epiphany. It all had to do with my use of the word “element.” As anyone who has studied Feng Shui knows, one of its underpinnings is the cosmological structure called the 5 Elements. Based on constellations, directions, and the deeply-rooted agricultural tendency of ancient China, the Elements provide insight into the universal flow. There are 5 of these elements (fire, earth, metal, water and wood). Some people relate to one element or another in very intense ways while finding the other elements not to their liking at all. The goal is to have a representation of all five in your life in some way----through your environment (hence Feng Shui), through the foods you eat, through your own personality projections, through the clothes you wear, etc.

Like Lisa, who described the typical metal personality in her earlier blog, I also carry an exuberant amount of this energy. Frankly, I do not know how to be unorganized, even when I’d like to be. Perhaps I’m a little compulsive but I list things I have to do during the day, projects that I’d like to complete within the next two months, phone calls to make during the week, groceries we need for supper, Christmas gifts to buy, articles to write, you get the idea. I am desperately uncomfortable if I think I may have dropped the ball somewhere. This is metal at its highest, not necessarily its finest. So I surprise myself when I get to Mexico and don’t even want to figure out the currency.

That afore-mentioned day, with pina colada in hand, I realized that I truly move out of my metal element and drink (no pun intended) in the other elements instead. The fire is present in the heat and sun; the water----well, there is no mistaking the ocean; the earth—toes in sand, remember?; and wood is represented by the abundance of palm trees and flowering plants. But metal? None to be found. There is nothing in Mexico to support all my metalness, not one aspect, nada. And I love that.

I spent five days in no-metalville. No schedule, no lists, no pressure, no expectations. I did see people in Mexico, even on the beach, have some bad metal moments. I saw a guy have a meltdown when his cervesa took about ten minutes to get to him at his beach palapa. I witnessed someone yelling about a taxi not showing up instantly. And I saw plenty of impatient metal people waiting for the elevator. All I could think was: next time, leave home without it, people.

Truthfully, I have to admit it would drive me crazy to live metal-less indefinitely. But for a few days, leaving it behind was a relief. I’m back home now watching my element kick back in. I’m not disappointed about this for I was never expecting a full-out metamorphosis. However, I had the opportunity to change the way I did life and to immerse into a different reality. It wasn’t that hard, despite my edgy metal. In fact, it was elementary.