Distilled Harmony Reprise

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Any brief examination of the teachings of the world’s religions and philosophies reveals an inclination to define how one should lead a “good life” or follow a pathway to an afterlife that is the reward for having lived that “good life.” I have never been comfortable with that notion. Seems more like child rearing than finding your place in the universe. So I lean more towards discerning beliefs and behaviors that allow for, or describe, a comforting and comfortable universe - sort of the existential equivalent of lying in a hammock, well-fed and well-loved, with a good book and a tall glass of lemonade, or dozing before a warm fire on a cold winter night.

I realize that seems terribly simplistic, but does life really need to be as complex, demanding, and complicated as the various sages, philosophers and prophets would have us believe? I am inclined to think not. So, I have worked my way around to the four tenets of Distilled Harmony, about which I have written to you on many occasions. However, Distilled Harmony is a kind of moving target. Life, and the world, doesn’t stand still. Knowledge, and our behavior in light of that knowledge, continues to evolve, and so I continually reflect on how the four tenets; Foster Harmony, Enable Beauty, Distill Complexity, and Oppose Harm, evolve, function and interrelate in that changing world. So I am going to take a few posts to review the four tenets of Distilled Harmony and how they stand here at the midpoint of 2021.

The world is certainly a different place than it was a dozen years ago when I put up a post on Schrag Wall at the end of August, 2009 when Barack Obama became the first black President. Then Joe Biden was Vice President, I actually went into a classroom to teach, and American involvement in the war in Afghanistan was finishing its first decade. This year I am in my first full year of retirement, so no need to go to any classroom, physical or online, Biden is president and has ended our involvement in Afghanistan, Kamala Harris brings a number of firsts to the office of Vice President, first female and first of blended African-American and Asian-American heritage. From a "big picture perspective" that would seem to reflect a somewhat smooth evolution - but when you factor in the Trump years, with their penchant for arrogance, violence and confrontation and the incredible discord in the nation as a whole, it was anything but. 

So far this year, it has been a sort of “chutes and ladders” time, a sort of one step forward, two steps sideways, one step back kind of world with the pandemic, the election, the Olympics, etc,. However, if a worldview like Distilled Harmony is worth its salt it should be able to take those little bobbles in stride! We shall see. “Watch this space.” I'll start with the first and dominant tenet, Foster Harmony.

See you soon.

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