Feng Shui Your Groop (or your friends/foes) NW NORTH NE   WEST   EAST SW SOUTH SE It's Chinese New Year and it's the Year of the Bore, er I mean Boar. It's fitting since our patron saint and mascot is the GroundHOG. And things will go hog-wild because this Porcine Year is symbolized by fire on top of water. So this means plenty of conflict is ahead. The Chinese call it "Year of Fiery Pig". This pig of a year means that we'll have heaps of problems on Groops. Heaven knows, MNS has been readying us for it what with all the glitches since last November. What is Feng Shui? It's the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement to achieve a balanced flow. Think of it as avoiding both diarrhea and constipation! The key is to regulate the flow in your groop, to activate the good energy and neutralize the bad. Metallic and wooden or plant-related elements help balance the conflicting effects of water and fire.   • DO use watery and fiery colors and graphics on your pages but not alone, • DO add touches of metallic and wooden colors and graphics to separate the watery and fiery parts, • For example - use color schemes that remind you of candles in metallic holders, floating in water. It's About Balance   Now let's look at how to balance out each of the compass points on our pages. East: This is the location of joyful events - hence the connection with kids and creativity. Put potted plants with red flowers down the right side of your page to boost joy levels. South East: This is the area for people and travel. To get luck here, put a glass of water with a music box in the bottom right corner of your page. The music box needs to be wound from time to time to vibrate the water with sound waves - so add a link to a sound file into the music box and remind members to click on it. South: This is the location of courage and ability. To increase groop membership, put white stones across the South (bottom) of your page. South West: The seat of wisdom is here. Put a glass of water, or water plants, or a fish or aquarium in the bottom left corner of your page in order to get smart. West: This is the foundational area. To give your groop a good grounding, put bamboo or other water plants down the left side of your page. North West: This is the location of quarrels and fights - which figures since most arise from wealth or lack of it. Put a pink carpet in the top left corner of your page to resolve conflicts. North: Fame lives here. Put water across the top of your page to boost your reputation. North East: This is area for love and relationships in general. To improve relationships in your groop, put wind chimes or something metallic in the top right corner of your page. Central Area: This is the area for health. To ward off illness, put a metallic object that makes a sound near the center of your page.  Before and After Now here's grooop that already had the bluish water colors and orangey fire colors.  All we needed to do is add the other fengshui elements. There!  Isn't that much better? Show us your Feng Shui!