Harmony

H is for Harmony

One definition of harmony is "the state of being in agreement in action, opinion or feeling".   Another is "an interweaving of different accounts into a single narrative".  I much prefer the second.  I don't believe agreement is  a necessary component of  harmony -  "acceptance" perhaps, but not "agreement".

I believe there are different ways we can be in (or out of) harmony: with ourselves, with others, and with our environment.  

Lately the corporate world has given a lot of lip service to the idea of personal harmony - they call it "work/life balance".   This usually means you can work an enormous amount of hours from home instead of at the office.  This isn't really balance at all, but it's a first, if tiny, step.  Then there's "work/personality balance".  I think this one is much more important even though your employer never mentions it.   "Work/personality balance" means the work you do is consistent with your beliefs and values.  You cannot find personal harmony if your job requires you to do things for money you wouldn't otherwise do.    

Harmony with other people is perhaps a little harder to attain.  It requires us to appreciate and value our differences.  There's no requirement for things to be the same to be in harmony.  In fact, in music, everyone singing the same melody line is boring.  Add some different notes and the music becomes fuller, more interesting, more satisfying.  Our relationships with others are the same.  If you keep company with only those who think and feel exactly the way you do,  you are going to stagnate and (sorry) become boring.    If you can accept a differing opinion or engage in a different culture you're on your way to finding harmony with others.

Harmony with our environment is perhaps the most difficult of all.   We humans have consumed a huge portion of the earth's resources,  yet I believe it's not too late to learn to live in harmony with nature.  This doesn't mean we have to trade in our cars for bicycles, wear hemp clothing and become vegetarians (though these probably would be good for us).  It does require a fundamental shift in perspective though - a shift that recognizes humans are not the most important species on the planet.  We're only one of myriad important species, and the sooner we realize this the sooner we'll be back on the road to interweaving different accounts into one narrative.