"A fortnight of dubious calm succeeded..." ~ Jane Eyre

The cottage room, main house, and reception area possess beautiful Japanese accents, and the gardens at the bed and breakfast also felt quite influenced by Japanese-style horticulture. I am a believer in feng-shui, and in addition to the physical environment achieving feng-shui (Chinese for "wind-water"), the energy between he and me also feels completely balanced, as it has been since our first date. When I am with him, a gentle wind blows over my soul and my emotions are as clear to me as water. It does not surprise me that a breakdown of the feng-shui theory is the yin/yang. It all comes down to energies balancing each other, whether that energy be love, passion, or desire.

The above photo was one of the prints in the bedroom depicting Japanese women preparing for a wedding. At first glance, there seems to be a great deal of chaos and activity, but if you focus deeper into the lines of the image, you see how evenly balanced the painting is, right down to the colors used. The deep and passionate red is balanced out by the cool and calming blue; an excess of either color would ruin the equilibrium. As one woman looks up, the other looks down; other women are facing each other on a perfect diagonal. There is a particular smooth curve to the riverbank the women stand on. There is nothing sharp or jagged about the lines - they all compliment each other in one fell motion of the brush.

Earlier this evening I was thinking about how some aspects of the Bushido of the samurai may be applied to a romantic relationship, especially rei. The amount of respect I have for him is immense; his mind and his soul command it. I know it is reciprocated, making it mutual and balanced.

Other aspects of the Bushido, such as self control, do not apply at all and it becomes a paradox of sorts. I lack all when it comes to him, yet I feel as though my emotions would be completely unaligned I possessed any at all...