HARMONY

I just used that word in a comment on someone's blog and I like it more than peace or tranquility etc because it emphasises co-operation. Why is it so difficult to achieve? There is so much discord everywhere; co-operation seems to have disappeared in favour of competition. People don't seem to be in search of harmony any more; they seek success and this has dollar signs flashing in their eyes. To me harmony is the ultimate success and, although I am not very good at achieving it, it is what I desire more than anything else. It does not have be an either/ or thing, you can be comfortably off and in harmony. I never can feel comfortable with people who strut about, preening, and acting like the cock of the roost. My mother-in-law has a great saying for such people - "cock of the roost one day, feather duster the next"! To me, such people are simply demonstrating their insecurity.

Spouses of a couple of my friends give off that 'smell' of success - putting other people, like me, down to make themselves appear superior. Little do they know that, if I was as rude as them, I could cut them off at the knees with my comments, faster than a speeding bullet. Acid can leap off my tongue if provoked far enough but I try to make peace and leave them to self-destruct as I don't want to offend my friends. You cannot have harmony with such people.

Nature has evolved to be in harmony. This does not mean it is at peace, as each creature must compete with others, but there is a greater harmony that pervades the whole structure and only humans are stupid enough to think they can live outside its force. Humans are but a speck in evolutionary time; nature is forever, and that is a long, long time. It would be a good idea to be on nature's side, therefore, but there are few of us who are. It would be easy for me not to participate in this whole communication thing and go back to my solitary garden, with nature. Garden, nature and me. Lately I have considered it again, but that would be giving in and I am not going to let those like my friend's husband win.

Respect goes together with harmony and respect is a fading virtue. I love people to have a view and share it but so often these days it becomes disrespectful and a personal attack, rather than a discussion of opinions. Somehow, I cannot go that far, although I dearly want to point it out, respectfully! Without respect for one another we can never find harmony, even here in blog-land. It will be interesting to get together in person with other bloggers, where you cannot delete a stream of invective before you click publish! You cannot leave a comment unsaid and just walk away when the person is right in front of you! At least people will know what I think beforehand as it is all there in 650 or so posts; everything, from the heart. If nothing else I hope my posts convey harmony with nature and a respect for other views and people's rights to have them and express them and my right to disagree, without malice.

Thinking outside that stupid, nebulous and elusive square is fraught with danger like sticking your head up out of the trenches of war. Expressing yourself well and, at the same time, maintaining a web of harmony and respect requires constant gymnastics, vigil and restraint. None of these 3 traits are my natural strengths and I hope they don't stifle what I want to say, and say with a passion about living in harmony.