HARMONY

HARMONY  



Harmony....is a music word.  I could never write of the eleventh word on my list without mentioning music.  "An arrangement or assortment of musical notes and tones that when put/played together blend to make a lovely sound".  There you go, my attempt at a definition of the word harmony (as far as music is concerned).  IF - I can get one of my kids to show me how, I might even connect a (favorite) song to this blog as an example of "harmony in music".

 

To me....HARMONY.....is being different, joining together as "different" and resulting in something very pleasing, with depth and purpose.  The world that we live in today could sure use a good boost in the "harmony" department.  Two of the biggies are politics, and religion.  We will never, ever, ever all think or be the "same".  Isn't that what we think we want?  Everyone to think and act and BE like us? Then stop and think of music, since when does a single "melody" or one single note, ever compare to the richness of a symphony which has many different instruments playing many different notes?

 

I don't particularly have the desire to take on the issues of world harmony....or even harmony in our own nation in this blog. 

 

Could not resist sharing Norman Rockwell art.

 I'll take the easy way out and simply say....."harmony" begins in the "family" and this is a concept I know a lot about.  I'm guessing we ALL do.  After all it seems that just about every concept relating to people and relationships and communication, can be broken down, down, down, to the family.

 

One of the great Christmas traditions that I thoroughly enjoy is the sending and receiving of Christmas cards.  I have a system that every year I save all the family photo picture cards and tape them up on the wall by my office nook at home. (This lovely display originally was on the front of the frig, but we outgrew it.)  I leave these photos up all year long and then replace them with the new cards that we receive the next year.  I really love this wall.  It makes me happy.

  

Christmas Card wall from Christmas 2012

If you could look closely at these pictures you would see smiling, beautiful, expressions on faces of families, couples, kids, grandparents, grand kids, all kinds of family combinations.  It is pretty safe to say, these pictures were taken to symbolize unity and "harmony".  Everyone knows these brief moments are captured to share love and peace and joy at Christmas time.  In REALITY life among families is not necessarily lived in "harmony" each and every day.  It is within all these little units (that we call families) where we can learn the greatest lessons of BEING DIFFERENT as individuals but still living in harmony.  Disharmony may exist as it is possible that each unique and individual family member has their own opinions or ideas and needs and wants.     

  

   

 SIBLINGS (this is the direction I'm going with this post)......BROTHERS and SISTERS are fantastic life relationships to live and learn the principle of harmony.  Birth order alone makes us different.  Like notes printed on the staff, everyone has a different spot.  Below, is my very favorite photo of me and my siblings (with our Dad) as adults.  The four of us live across the country, New York, Minnesota and Arizona, we have various levels of education, various political affiliation, and no two of us attend the same church.  Yet we enjoy being together. ( Maybe its because we avoid topics of religion and politics!!) Or maybe, that we have been raised by loving parents who loved each of us and encouraged us as individuals, and we learned this acceptance from them..   

Celebrating my birthday with (left to right) Cathy, Dad, Amy, me and Mark

Love, love LOVE, this portrait (below) of "The Rogers" kids, my husband and his siblings.  This portrait was taken in the early 60's.

Steve, Sharon, David, Gary and Mike.

These adorable siblings grew up to be....  

 

 

 

 

AMAZING FRIENDS, as well as brothers and sisters. Who, although are each one very different....they really "like" each other.  And if all else fails, they find "harmony" together, at the BEACH! The reference there to the beach was intended as a little bit of humor, when in fact, it is a great example of a much needed common denominator.  Yes, us desert dwellers find peace and coolness and harmony in an ocean breeze.  AND we also have great memories of being together as an extended family, relaxing from the demands of life and having fun!  A common ground, of some sort seems to be needed for harmony to exist.  After all, in music, for example, the notes need to be in the "same key" to blend properly for harmony.  Maybe that "key" in relationships is a love for the beach, or literature, or religion, or politics, but when that is NOT a common ground....perhaps just the sheer raw love of a parent keeps a family in tact. 

 

Califia Beach, San Clemente California 2010

 

OK - this next picture may seem really random, but when I was thinking about harmony, and families, and being an individual and still getting along.  I looked through my files to find this photo that I took of the Louis Stradling family last year.  Lamar asked me to come to the cemetery and take a family photo of him and his siblings on the day they said good bye to their father.  What an amazing sight!!  The Stradling family is a lesson all in itself of "harmony" and love!  Pictured here are all the living SIBLINGS (no spouses featured here, just brothers and sisters).  One of the largest families I personally know.  I guess I can not really speak for them, but from my point of view... harmony does abide.  The amazing thing is....I think this family DOES talk of politics and religion!  Guess some families are just like that!  

 

The following photo from 1946 represents a lot of things to me.  This a a snapshot of my mother, (pictured on the left) with her sisters, Jeanne, Pauline and Peggy.  The fact of the matter is their early life, their childhood was far from "harmonious".  Hard things happen, things that children have absolutely no control over like, a great depression, the death of a parent, poverty, a single mother unable to support her children, a world at war.  Living under these conditions can hit dissonant chords.  And yet, like exemplified in this photo, with a lot of understanding, it is possible to find a way to stand side by side, put on a smile, and go forward.  The future can be brighter if we grow. 

The "Weaver" sisters  1946

We truly can create HARMONY in life, as in music, if we allow each other to be different, and still play together.  Accepting the fact that we won't all think the same, we won't all feel the same, will bring happiness.

Learn from your brothers and sisters, embrace differences,...........CELEBRATE HARMONY!! among family first...then..... take on the world!

FAB FOUR take on "Old Man's Beach" San Onofre, California 2009


 

I was going to end this post right here, and consider it safe.  However I feel there is something more I need to say.  As mentioned before in this blog, I'm a Mormon.  Don't Mormon's want everyone to believe and feel the same as we do?  After all we send out our sons and daughters to the far corners of the world to teach of our religion.  There is a reason for that.  In the document The FAMILY a Proclamation to the World, the First presidency of the church states,"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."  I truly believe a great work and service is being offered by our army of missionaries to teach of Jesus Christ.  Teaching how He lived, what he taught, and how he died can result in harmony in families, in communities, and even throughout the world, if these concepts are applied in how we live and act. 

 Having said that, I want to also share one of the "Thirteen Articles of Faith" which are major guideline to following the Mormon faith, number 11 states: "We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.  Yes, we who claim this need to practice what we preach.  Interesting thought here....members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, refer to each other as "Brother and Sister".  Have you ever heard that the best harmony, the best tones of voices blending is when brothers and sisters sing?

 

  Achieving HARMONY, doesn't happen as a hope or a wish... it takes great acceptance, understanding and at times, a lot of work.