founder’s page
JUNE 2022 / DONNA MOFFLY
OF LUCKY LIVING I
“The antique gun that Jack’s mother lifted from some poor tribesman in Afghanistan and the African knife weren’t acceptable.”
OUTSIDE: Our house faces East. North would
be better for business (uh-oh, I’ve been editing from home during the pandemic), but East was good for our family. A comforting thought. I draw the line at turning the house around. The weeping cherry was too close to the front door, making it hard for energy to enter. But it was good we'd replaced the trees blown down by a storm, because it shows we believe in future generations. (Today, that weeping cherry is on its last roots. I plan to replace it with a young one in a slightly more auspicious spot.) FRONT DOOR: The front door was black,
a color the Chinese consider very lucky, especially for a front door because it attracts, absorbs and brings in positive energy. (Now it’s painted red, the traditional color of Chinese
wedding dresses. So good luck on that one, too.) And eagles being fiercely protective, our eagle door knocker kept away evil spirits.
FRONT HALL: The big mirror was fabulous, because mirrors reflect away evil spirits and secret arrows. The gallery of paintings ascending the curved staircase to the second floor, especially one of ballet dancers, made it easier to walk upstairs. LIVING ROOM: The little Regency desk at the
entrance was good, because it kept us in touch with the comings and goings in the house; and the peach walls gave the room life. The wind chimes tinkling on the terrace made happy sounds, great for moving energy; and feng shui hates sharp edges, so the curve of the piano was nice. Our “wealth corner” had three goldframed French fans in increasing sizes and a brass stirrup on the table below “to catch the coins. It’s like a progress of building wealth here,” said Connie, adding that unlike us, the Chinese aren’t at all shy about talking about money. However, the antique gun that Jack’s mother lifted from some poor tribesman in Afghanistan and the African knife weren’t acceptable. Feng shui doesn’t approve of weapons in the house, even knives at the dinner table. The Chinese eat with chopsticks and cut things up in the kitchen. FAMILY ROOM: Born in the Year of the Rat,
Connie wasn’t wild about Vincent, the real live tuxedo cat sleeping on the couch, or Beth Henry’s bronze sculpture of a reclining cougar
VENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY, GREENWICH, CT
’ve lived in the same house in Riverside for almost sixty years. It’s a lucky house. It tried to burn itself down once (a faulty charger ignited Jack’s workbench in the basement), but we got a nearly new house on Chubb. Good ol’ Chubb. I know it’s lucky because long ago Connie Fisher, an expert on feng shui, told us so. That’s the 3,000-year-old Chinese tradition in which it is said that how and where you build your house and arrange your rooms affects your fortune. It’s about getting rid of the “secret arrows” and getting the chi (energy) flowing so you can work, sleep, think, love, laugh and breathe more easily—thus you’re a happier, more prosperous person. Here were some of her observations.
greenwichmag.com
18
18_21_GW_Founder's_Donna_June_2022.indd 18
5/12/22 1:55 PM
3887_W
