Heads or Tails: Feng Shui Luck vs. Free Will Feng Shui

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I had time to stop and smell the roses . . . . Only, there were no roses--just shorelines along the Alameda coast across from San Francisco. Parts of the paved asphalt trail needed repair, especially the parts that were affected by tree roots that made the roads pop up.
Pondering the times of peace after times of war led me to the Vietnam War and the aftermath of guerilla warfare. I can be fairly certain that as I traverse these trails in sunny Northern California on a May day that I won't be stumbling upon landmines that could potentially blow up some limbs or take a life. I think in sadness and in gratitude of Sheryl Crow and other celebrities who give charitable donations to help those who have suffered at the hands of war.
In the context of feng shui, I also thought of the two cycles of creation and destruction. Both cycles are necessary. For example, a plant sprouts and grows to bear fruit. Yet, the same plant must dry up and wither to reveal the very seed that can bear fruit. In fact, some plants even need to be eaten by birds or burned by fire to have viable seeds that could bear fruit. So these two sides -- creation and destruction -- are both on the same coin.
One side of the coin is yang, which is the creative cycle. The other side of the coin is yin, which is the destructive cycle. If we continue to use the coin analogy, other ways to distinguish yang from yin:
1) Heads is yang. Tails is yin.
2) Top is yang. Bottom is yin.
3) Male is yang. Female is yin.
4) Humans are yang. Animals/plants are yin.
5) People are yang. Buildings are yin.
Just because there are two sides to the Universe does not mean that there is no free will though. We each have choice in activating creation and destruction. One of the ways to do this is through permaculture.
Permaculturists, people who create permanent agriculture, have long known that people can co-exist and bring out nature even more fully by strategically helping it.
1) One way to help nature is to prune trees so that you actually get more sizable and delicious fruit. They needed to clear away some branches to actually bring more life to the tree!
2) Another permaculture practice is to clear away seedlings to make room for the bigger trees. If too many seedlings grow into trees in too little of a space, it ends up draining the overall resources and none of the seedlings get enough nutrition to survive and thrive when threatened by bugs, viruses, or other invasions.
3) Yet another way to help nature is to create and contain fires, especially for some species of plants that actually need fire to grow. Manzanita is one such tree that needs fire in order to survive. In fact, because fires are so hard to come by, some plants have actually entered the endangered species list!
So one thing we can actually learn from permaculturists is to strategically destroy in order to create. This is a constructive use of destruction that ultimately serves the cycle of creation and re-creation. So even though creation and destruction are both inevitable parts of life, we need not feel powerless. In fact, we have agency and we do have power to co-exist with the Universe around us.
In fact, that is how feng shui came to be: how to live with the Universe, maximize on the beneficial creative flow of energy, minimize destructive elements, and still not be at the whims and effect of negative forces. So even if we still live during times of peace and war, we can still act like the stars and contribute to the causes we believe can create more hope and healing on Earth.
Here's to the overall betterment of humankind!
Cheers,
Gloria

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