Cool Hand Luke - Harmonizer in Chief
… maintaining harmony in your individual space contributes to the harmony of the planet. Gregge Tiffen (It’s Springtime: Flow With the Power of Nature – March, 2007)
Harmony – a combination of parts into a pleasing or orderly whole; congruity. Webster’s New World Dictionary
As I enter the 12th and final month of my 67th journey around the sun (in this lifetime, that is), I’m focused on harmony and fueled by a deep desire to contribute to peace on the planet.
If you’ve been reading these posts for a bit, you know that I believe peace starts up close and personal within each of us. How we operate and the environments we create either contribute to harmony or detract from it. If I’m stirred up, fearful, agitated I’m contributing to the chaos. That knowing should stop me in my tracts and provoke me to clean up whatever is at the root. When I’m aware, it does and I’m able to make a shift. When I’m not aware … let’s just say ‘it’s messy’.
For the most part these days, I’m feeling harmonious with myself and with life. So, I wondered: how can it be that I’m experiencing harmony in the midst of the upset and chaos in the world coupled with the unknowns in my own life as I shift my attention to new, but not yet clear, domains of expression?
Upon reflection, I identified five strategies that help me create and maintain harmony:
- Taking excellent care of my physical body including eating healthy foods; scheduling body work and acupuncture regularly; supplementing food with vitamins, herbs and other nutritional support; stretching; daily walks or hikes in nature with Cool Hand Luke; getting plenty of rest.
- Committing to ‘no-pressure’ and no worry (care – yes; worry – no) around the unknowns. I’m committed to thoughtful consideration without worry of what my next work in the world will be and what sources of income will support me. My intention is to allow ‘what wants to emerge’ to do just that without forcing it. Embracing the unknown is key. I look out at the messy world with this same commitment.
- Experimenting, discovering, and operating at my pace, not the pace I think the world has set for me. After decades of ‘fast’ – even knowing that I’m built for ‘slow’, I’m limiting the number activities I put into each day, risking the possibility of boredom (no way with the growing stack of books calling for attention!) by doing less and moving slowly.
- Making space and clearing out ‘stuff’. In the wake of closing the bed and breakfast operation, I’ve cleared, cleaned and reorganized every shelf and drawer in closets and cabinets throughout the house. The garage will follow in its time as winter gives way to warmer weather.
- Expressing kindness wherever I roam. Whether it’s a simple smile or a gentle hello as I engage with the world, withholding a snarky remark on Facebook, or offering to help a friend, these acts contribute to my well-being and remind me that I have a choice in each and every interaction.
In sowing seeds of harmony, I’m aiming to forge a new energy toward nurturing peace on the planet. Peace that puts attention on harmony not discord, on abundance not lack, on intelligence not its absence, on love not hate or fear, on the beauty that is in EVERY thing, on the power we each are granted that no man or system can take away without our cooperation, on joy and on life itself.