There is a Hindu system of planning called vastu. It originated thousands of years ago and started as the way places were laid out--first the center, geographically and functionally, was determined based on its principles and then the layout of the town, each building on its land, and each building in itself followed. In some ways it is similar to the Chinese sytem of feng shui.
The placement of things in vastu is based on nature and the 5 elements (air, fire, water, earth, and the space in which of these exist) and each compass point is associated with an element. So you get into the properties of the elements, the function of the space, and even the person using it in order to determine the best way to use space. There are certain constants, but like Hinduism itself, there is much flow based on the various inputs. The aim is balance--none of this good luck/bad luck stuff. If things are out of balance it will have an effect, whether on your health or your mood or your income--one way or another your life will be impacted. The tricky thing is to achieve blanace when more than one person is using the same space, multiplied onwards when you move from a home to a block of buildings, to a town, and continuing upwards.
Another principle says if there is anything cracked or broken in your life, you cannot achieve balance while it is around. This goes for the knick-knack that the husband knocked over and cobbled back together, or the drawerful of things that one of these days we'll find the missing piece for or fix or whatever is needed to shift it out of the drawer. And I also believe that it applies to people in our lives, because if anything can throw us out of balance fast, it's the people we let in.
All of this has been on my mind since we rearranged the bedroom. I have never been very good at sleeping, usually passing out immediately but whenever I woke up, that was it for the night. Didn't matter if I'd slept 2 hours or 6--once awake, that was the end of sleeping. That got a bit better when we moved here, but I then developed the habit of waking many times during the night instead--it seemed every time I rolled over, I'd wake up. And now, after shifting the furniture, I find that I am having a great deal of trouble falling asleep. Doesn't matter how tired I am, doesn't matter how active I've been, doesn't matter what I've eaten--the only constant is, I can't fall asleep. And once I do fall asleep, I wake up frequently or wake up and can't go back to sleep.
I am not aware of anything that is stressing me out. No lofty thoughts or such to keep me awake. So I have begun to wonder if we have somehow disturbed the balance with this new arrangement of furniture, or if the new color scheme is throwing me off. And thus I am back to thoughts of balance and how elusive it can be to find, first as an individual, then as part of a family, then as part of a social group, then as part of a community, let alone as a citizen of a city or state or country or world. How do you achieve balance when the things you see around you are themselves unbalanced?
It starts with figuring out where the damn bed should be...and getting a good night's sleep.
