Yin Yang

Beautiful snow fall has paralyzed Seattle for the last three days. Busy streets have become ski slopes. Kids are out of school and enjoying the winter resorts just outside their homes. I am stuck in the house with nowhere to escape and I can’t help but ponder on one question. When the whole universe is moving towards chaos why is there so much order in life? And this time it’s not a deep philosophical question but rather a practical question. Why do we organize everything around us? Why does our house have to be squeaky clean with everything put back in its place? In most cases there is only one answer: because She wants it!! And “She “could be your girlfriend, wife, mother or any other woman in your life.

 Just by the virtue of being a woman “She” has a minor case of obsessive compulsive disorder. In her world, everything in the house has a place. The kitchen counter and sink are always completely empty. The bed is always made and the flat sheet folds just enough over the comforter, such that the embroidery on it is perfectly aligned with the border of the comforter. The pillows on the sofa are not meant for comfort but are for decoration, two pillows should always be on the arms of the sofa and the third is placed in the center with its edge pointing up. The TV remote control is always placed in fancy wooden remote holder, which is placed on the left side-table.

When men are at home they have a minor case of motivational deficiency disorder (She prefers to call it laziness). For us the house is a big playground and a sports bar, a small piece of world that we can rule. Cups are for drinking coffee and glasses are for drinking wine, its perfectly fine to just rinse them before use, why bother washing them everyday? The kitchen counter is a perfect place to keep important piles of bills/letters, car keys, and wallet. Men are introduced to a bedroom only after they start living with women. For us a bed has a transient existence and it could be a couch, a sofa that faces the TV or a hammock on warm summer day, so dressing up a bed is just beyond comprehension. The pillows on the sofa have one and only one purpose that is to serve their master; they have to be a headrest, a footrest, a backrest or anything else that enhances their masters TV viewing pleasures. We know the power of remote control, some of us even think that it was the biggest invention since TV, but give me a break a remote does not need its own space. 

Men and women live in different worlds, which is why they have the expression “men are from Mars and women are from Venus” and tying the knot is like uniting these two extreme poles of universe.  I am sure that by this time you are wondering what all of this has to do with snow in Seattle. Well, it never snows in Seattle and when it does, life comes to stand still. So I am stuck in the house for the last three days and there is nowhere to escape. My office is closed, all the bars are closed, no racquet ball and even my dentist called off the appointment. For the last three days, I have been organizing our closets hanging pictures, installing drapes and vacuuming carpet. It’s like learning a language that I don’t understand.

But that's all just fine, because without Yin this Yang’s life would be full of chaos!

According to Chinese philosophy Yin and Yang are fundamentally opposing principles of universe. The balance between Yin and Yang is thought to be critical for existence of this universe. Yin often represents the female form and Yang represents the male form.