Harmonizing must be like smiling....

Hi Jim,

Harmonizing must be like smiling, If you don't feel much like smiling but give it a go anyway, the smile releases endorphins that make you feel happier. Perhaps teaching people to harmonize will also grow the seeds of harmony that would otherwise lie dormant. Regularly tuning in to each other MUST build concern, yes, and if the culture can establish concern for others as a deeply held value, everything good will flow from that.

 

And the power of its not being affiliated with words. It's la way of stripping religiosity away and leaving the prayer / spirit to do its work. When we stand in a circle and sing, nobody's asking about the things that divide us. Wonderful.

 

And harmony as a positive social "disruptor" is a fascinating metaphor...I can imagine spontaneous harmony clubs on street corners, or while people are waiting in line--it's a radical use of situations that normally engender stress and conflict. In waiting rooms, in hospice. In civil disobedience...

 

I was thinking last night while we were singing of the book the Japanese physicist wrote about water, how unkind words disrupt the molecular structure of water, and as we're mostly water, what it means to our bodies when we're immersed in a negative environment. And how singing seems to reset what is disturbed, out of alignment...I only encountered kirtan last year and found right away that chanting changes me for the better. And how empowering it is to be able to change from the inside out, in the presence of others doing the same. Groups can be terribly destructive or powerfully healing - I have an idea that once people encounter the powerful good of a sangha, they won't settle for less than real community.

 

So--long and short of it--may your harmonic method of wellbeing thrive and spread! Please do let me know if I can help -- beyond simply showing up and having a marvelous time :-)

Lori