After being single for too long, I looked into the Peach Blossom Position in feng shui

A while back I had dinner with a friend. She looked at me, started to say something, then stopped. Then she said it anyway: "You're not a bad catch, you know. How come nothing's ever happening?"

I smiled and said the right person hasn't come along yet.

She rolled her eyes. "You know there's such a thing as the Peach Blossom Position in feng shui, right? Your bedroom — last time I was there, something felt off. The wall behind your bed is too dark. Books all over the desk. A suitcase piled in the corner. You've blocked off all your peach blossoms."

I was about to argue. But to be honest, after she said it, I thought about it. I really have been single a long time. It's not that I don't want to date. There just never seems to be a chance. The people I meet aren't quite right.

That night I got home and sat on the bed. I looked around my room. Off-white walls. One bookshelf. A computer. A few half-read books piled on the nightstand. The suitcase in the corner was from a work trip last year. I never put it away. The curtains are grayish blue. When they're drawn, the whole room is like a small gray box.

I thought, maybe she has a point.

What exactly is "peach blossom luck"

First I looked up what "peach blossom" means in traditional culture.

It's not really about peach trees. In Chinese astrology, "peach blossom" is a specific term from the Ba Zi system. Simply put, everyone has a corresponding "peach blossom position" based on their birth year — a specific direction in your home.

The state of that direction, they say, affects your luck with the opposite sex, your social life, your relationships. Some people have strong peach blossoms — they're liked wherever they go. Others have weak ones and always feel alone.

I'm not sure how accurate any of this is. But I noticed something interesting: the twelve zodiac animals are divided into four groups, and each group has its own peach blossom direction —

For Monkey, Rat, or Dragon, the peach blossom position is due west.

For Tiger, Horse, or Dog, it's due east.

For Pig, Rabbit, or Sheep, it's due north.

For Snake, Rooster, or Ox, it's south.

I'm a Rabbit. My peach blossom position is due north.

I took out my phone, opened the compass, and stood in the middle of my bedroom, turning in a circle. Due north... was my wardrobe.

There were two storage boxes piled on top of the wardrobe. Next to it, the suitcase I never put away.

Right.

I tried making some changes

I'm not a particularly superstitious person. But I figured, nothing to lose. Might as well try.

First step, I cleared the due north direction. The suitcase finally got put away. The storage boxes went to the storage room. I wiped the top of the wardrobe clean. Just this one step made the room brighter. That corner had always been dim, like a forgotten place.

Second step, I put a small bunch of flowers there.

When I was reading up on it, I saw that the peach blossom position is good for fresh flowers — pink or red ones are best. Peach blossoms, peonies, roses, all fine. But one thing was very clear: never use fake flowers. Fake flowers have no life. They're said to attract relationships that aren't genuine.

I went to a flower shop and bought a small bunch of pink carnations. Nothing fancy. But when I set them there, that corner suddenly had color. Like a stroke of warmth added to a gray winter scene.

Third step, I turned on the lamp in that corner too. I'd never turned on that lamp before. Didn't see the point. Now every evening I switch it on for a while. The warm yellow light falls on the flowers. It really does look nice.

To be honest, after doing all this — whether or not the peach blossom luck comes — I feel much better.

What you shouldn't put at the peach blossom position

While I was reading up, I found a few "taboos." Some of them actually make sense.

Don't put thorny plants there. Cacti, crown of thorns — sure, they're easy to keep alive, but thorny plants at the peach blossom position are said to attract "rotten peach blossoms" — the kind of relationships that give you headaches. Tangled up, going nowhere.

I thought about it. I did have a small cactus on my desk before. Not exactly due north, but close to the peach blossom position. I moved it to the balcony.

Don't hang a solo photo. If you hang photos at the peach blossom position, make them photos of two people, or warm group shots. Hanging a lonely picture of yourself just emphasizes "I'm alone."

Don't pile up clutter. This is probably the most important one. Clutter means blocked energy. A corner stuffed with things is like a blocked road — even good luck can't find the door.

I remembered what my friend said: "You've blocked off all your peach blossoms." She was right.

Don't put anything too dark or gloomy. Skull decorations, scary posters, wilted flowers... these all affect the energy of the peach blossom position. Sounds mystical, but when you think about it, it makes sense. When you're in a dark, messy environment, how's your mood going to be? When your mood is off, you naturally don't want to go out and be social. You don't want to open up.

Besides direction, there are some other small things

While studying the peach blossom position, I came across some other interesting details.

Like rose quartz. In feng shui, rose quartz is called the "love stone." Placing it at the peach blossom position can strengthen the effect. I didn't go out and buy one, but I had a rose quartz bracelet from who knows when sitting in a drawer. I dug it out and set it next to the vase.

Like bedroom colors. Feng shui says the color scheme of your bedroom affects your love life. Cool colors — gray, black, dark blue — make you closed off. Warm tones — beige, light pink, pale yellow — help open your heart. After I read this, I glanced over at my grayish blue curtains. Next time I change them, I might pick something warmer.

Like don't have your bed facing a mirror. A mirror facing the bed, they say, makes relationships unstable and causes insomnia and bad dreams. My mirror is on the wardrobe door. When closed, it faces the bed. I adjusted the door a bit so the mirror doesn't point straight at the bed. Who knows if it helps. But closing the wardrobe door, I feel more at ease.

And then what

It's been about a month since I made these changes.

Has the peach blossom luck come?

Honestly, not in the storybook way — "met the one overnight." But there have been some changes.

I'm more willing to go out. Before, I'd always stay home on weekends, scrolling through my phone, thinking being alone was fine. But lately I've been asking friends out to eat. I even signed up for a calligraphy class. Not because "feng shui activated my peach blossoms" — but when my room became clean, bright, full of color, I felt less shut in somehow.

The flowers in that corner, I change them every two weeks. Each time I change them, I stand there and look for a while. Pink carnations under warm yellow light. Sometimes there are water drops on the petals. It's a very quiet moment.

I think maybe the peach blossom position isn't about some mysterious power. Maybe it's just a reminder — a reminder to leave yourself a bright space, to take care of how you feel, to not stuff your life so full of clutter that you forget to leave room.

The "peach blossom" in feng shui, in the end, is maybe just a person's state. What your environment is like, your heart is probably like too. A blocked corner matches a closed heart. And when you clean that corner and put down a bunch of flowers, maybe your heart opens up along with it.

At the calligraphy class, I met someone I clicked with. I don't know if it'll go anywhere. Not in a hurry to find out. But that feeling — "willing to open up and meet new people" — I haven't felt that in a long time.

Maybe that's what peach blossom is. Not luck dropped from the sky, but something that grows in the little bit of space you cleared for yourself.

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Three questions for you:

1. Do you know which direction your zodiac sign's peach blossom position is in? Go home and take a look. What does that corner look like right now?

2. Are there corners in your bedroom that have been piled up and never tidied? What they block might be more than just space.

3. If you were to put a bunch of flowers at your peach blossom position, what would you choose? Why?