The Peek-a-Boo Shaving Brush

The morning after the bathroom mirror was replaced, I was getting ready to drive my wife to yet another new doctor. I was all set to shave when I remembered that my wife moved my shaving supplies yesterday when she cleared off the counter.

I looked for my shaving supplies first in my cabinet, which is where I usually put my stuff when I'm tired of looking at it. I found my old razor but not the new one and not my shaving brush. But just to be sure, I carefully looked at all the items on all the shelves just in case I overlooked something. But my new razor and shaving brush -- my supplies -- were not there. I took out the old razor and decided to use that.

I figured that my shaving brush was in the cabinet under the sink. It's my wife's favorite spot for stashing things she'd rather not see or have other people see. My neti pot often ends up there. I took a quick look, but I couldn't find it. There was a clear location for it, too, right in front, which is where the neti pot goes. But the neti pot was on the counter. And the shaving brush was not to be found.

I did find my new razor, though. So I looked a bit more carefully and thoroughly in that bottom cabinet. I looked behind tall objects. I looked inside small boxes. I felt around with my fingers. I was sure the shaving brush was not there.

Meanwhile, my wife was sleeping, gathering strength so that she can discuss her condition yet again with a new doctor. I didn't want to wake her, so I looked for my shaving brush in the shower. After all, I sometimes shave in the shower and leave the brush in there. But it wasn't there.

I looked in the cabinet that's above the toilet. (We have a lot of cabinet space in our bathroom.) Sill, there was no sign of the shaving brush.

I peeked in the waste bin, just in case. It was nearly empty.

I had no other choice but to ask my wife what she did with it.

"Where's my shaving brush?"

"I left it in the cabinet, under the sink."

"I already looked there. I can't find it."

I walked back to the bathroom ahead of my wife to again look in the cabinet under the sink very carefully to avoid embarrassment. As I walked, I faintly detect sighing and a bit of grumbling coming from the bedroom.

She peered inside the cabinet with me. Pointing to the empty space, she said she left it there.

It was when I was focusing on that empty space, hoping the brush would materialize, when I heard my wife say,

"You're looking for your shaving brush, right? The one that's right on the counter?"

It was, as she said, right on the counter. Where I always keep it. Amazing.

If she weren't so sick, I'd be certain that she had played a trick on me. But I have to consider some other possibilities:

1. I'm nuts.
2. Something about the new mirror changed the energy in the room. The brush was momentarily caught in a null part of the energy field, causing photons to bend around it rather than bounce off it.
3. I'm really nuts.
   

Obviously the answer is #2. Hahaha, okay it's #3. I guess what happened is that I was paying more attention to my internal visual memory of the barren countertop that I saw on Wednesday rather than the actual countertop with the stuff on it.

Or maybe I really started out looking for my razor, which I couldn't find. When I found my old razor, I probably decided that my shaving brush was with the new razor and not in plain sight on the counter. And I did find my new razor in the cabinet under the sink. But, of course, the shaving brush was not with it, which caused me no end of concern.

This is all pretty scary, especially considering that I drive a car and design things that go into missiles and satellites.

Hi-Def in the Bathroom

From reading the post title, you might think we installed an HDTV in our indoor outhouse.

But if you've been reading this blog long enough, you know that I like to lead you astray. You're right.

What we installed yesterday was a new bathroom mirror. And the way this relates to HDTV is that our old mirror was so non-reflective that the change we see in ourselves is like switching from analog TV to HDTV.

I can see myself so clearly that I kind of long for the old mirror, which, incidentally, was manufactured in the same year I was born. Every pore, wrinkle and chicken pox scar now shouts out "Look at me!"

So we're almost done Feng Shui-ing in the loo. All that's left is to put up that waterfall picture where the fish picture was, and hang the mirror on the outside of the door.

But we have lots to do all over the house. Stay tuned for more exciting (albeit non-loo-related) Feng Shui news!

Feng Shui Notes 1

We were very lucky to have a friend of a friend offer to do a free feng shui consultation over the weekend.

The issues we face:

1. My wife's vexing health issues.
2. Our inability to build up any savings.

It may be that our bathroom could be contributing to both issues. We had a picture of a fish in the bathroom. She said that this is money going down the toilet. Also, since the bathroom is centrally-located in the house, our health was also going down the toilet. Here's the remedy:

1. Place a mirror on the outside of the door.
2. Replace the mirror that overlooks the sink.
3. Keep the toilet lid down.
4. Keep the door closed.
5. Replace the "fish" picture with a waterfall picture.
6. Keep the drains "stopped."
7. Tie a 9" length of red string around each drain pipe.

So far we did 3 - 7 with one exception -- 5. We did remove the fish picture, and I have a photograph of a waterfall that I could have developed into a 8x10 as a replacement.

She spent about two and a half hours with us. I'll write down more notes in later posts.

My First Reiki Session

I had my first Reiki session right after work today with Catherine, the same Reiki Master who worked on my wife and daughter.

I was so relaxed, even before she started. The room was lit softly and evenly, so there were no scary shadows. Music and water sounds played on a CD. And soothing incense burned. I started melting as soon as I got on the table. But I was alert.

Catherine started by testing to see whether my chakras were blocked. She did this by holding an amethyst crystal from a chain above each chakra. If the crystal moved in a circular pattern, the chakra was open. If not, it was closed. Only my top three chakras were open, the crown, third eye and throat, although the throat was weak. She said that was pretty typical.

Then she started. Catherine's hands were very warm, and that's the only energy I felt. I kept my eyes closed most of the time. She started by standing behind the head end of the table, placing her hands on my head and partly on my forehead. Then she moved to work on my left side, feet, right side. She stayed in each spot for about five minutes. Sometimes I felt her shake slightly before leaving an area.

When she was working on my left arm, I suddenly remembered that my wife said that our daughter giggled during her session. Then I felt like giggling, because it seemed funny / strange that this woman was just standing next to me with one hand on my arm and the other on my hand. I never felt so giddy and happy at that moment. I held back a laugh, though and merely smiled.

Another thing that I experienced was I saw a clear image in my mind of a green sea sponge. Perhaps I was on the verge of dozing off. I don't think I ever actually feel asleep, though.

My wife said that when she was treated she felt or saw another presence in the room next to Catherine. Catherine told her that it was her spirit guide. So I peeked a few times to see if I could see the spirit guide. I did not. But I had the strange perception that Catherine felt a whole lot closer than she appeared. Visually, she seemed a few feet further away from me than she was.

When it was over, she re-did the chakra test and demonstrated that they were all open. Except that the navel one didn't seem to go unless she moved her hand. She also commented that she felt that my right side needed more energy. The right side pertains to fathers, so folks who have a difficult relationship with their fathers need more work on the right side. (The left side pertains to mothers). I explained that my father died more than 20 years ago and wondered whether it might indicate a problem with a male boss?

I took me a while to sit up and then to stand. I felt the way I do when I give blood, only a bit less sure footed. When giving blood, it's the light-headed-ness that dominates. With the Reiki session, it was light-everything-ness that made standing and walking chancy. The fact is, you do need some muscle tension to stand erect. But my muscles were happy to let the bones in my skeleton to just sort of stack themselves up like a tower of dominoes.

But muscle tension increased as soon as I got home. After supper, I went to the gym to work out. While doing the elliptical machine, I had near crippling back pain on the right side. My guess is that if the muscles don't tense back up at the same rate, you can get some twisting and uneven pressure in spots.

While writing this I did an online search for "Chakra Test" and came up with an online questionnaire. Here are my results, which seem to correspond to my pre-Reiki state:

Sacral:	under-active	(-38%)
Navel:	under-active	(-56%)
Heart:	under-active	(-6%)
Throat:	under-active	(0%)
Third Eye:	open	(56%)
Crown:	open	(38%)

The advice for opening the chakras is interesting....