The invisible flow of harmony in every city

Chopping my garlic chives this morning, I was super tickled by the discovery of the gradient. It brings the gradients into an entirely new eye-popping perspective for me. Laid against the brown of the board, my design senses found appreciation of the natural harmony in this calming analogous colour scheme. I felt an immediate sense of visceral satisfaction and ease of flow.

This word “harmony” underlies so much of our visible and invisible world I wonder why it’s not spoken of more often. If the words we speak reflect the thoughts we think, does it mean that the concept of harmony is hardly on our minds in modern society? Harmony refers to the state of being in flow with what is around us. Harmony doesn’t necessarily mean equal agreement. It means working together in sync whether as an organisation, a family unit or an entire country in maintenance of a certain way of living and being, regardless of right or wrong. It is non-judgemental in its approach and only speaks about the way we relate to ourselves and to each other. 

As an expression, it can show up in the way we dress (as an individual expression of harmony), how we walk along the sidewalks (as a group expression), the way our cities are designed (as a national expression) and our relationship with other countries (as our worldly expression). As a relationship, it can also show up in our feelings and thoughts, the way we work together and how we approach our neighbours. As an action, it can show up in how we treat ourselves, how we treat others and how we treat our environment.

It is not always what one does necessarily but how one relates to the broader whole that we find ourselves a part of. Strolling along the sidewalks in Singapore, I realised how much everyone walks into everyone else. If I walk on the left, someone else will be walking towards me. If I move to the right, there will be another person. Eventually, I just walk on the grass. At times like these, I reminisce about when I was living in Japan and how everyone seemed to have an unspoken harmonious rule when walking in a city. Even the way they held their umbrellas in a crowded street had harmony; one will lift the other higher or lower than the other as they walked pass each other! They have the flow of human traffic in mind wherever they walk.

In fact, it begins with our own relationship with ourselves. We as the individual unit make up our environment. It follows that if there is disharmony within ourselves, then there will be disharmony around us. If Singaporeans walk in discord along the sidewalks, could it be perhaps a reflection of the discord within themselves? There are so many parts of the inner self of man that it can become confusing to know where one begins and one ends. Sometimes one may feel reluctance to do a task but yet still take the action to do it. Other times one may disagree about a certain topic but voice agreement to their friends. When such conflicts happen, there is friction within and it can feel very messy, confusing and stressful. On the other hand, if one is aligned with their thoughts, words, feelings and actions, there is complete ease and flow. Life becomes a real pleasure and is full of joy. 

Harmony is such an intangible topic that it can be difficult to grasp but herein lies the real truth; harmony is about a sense of beingness and flow. There is no grasping involved. The more one grasps the less one holds. 

So what is one thing you can do today to flow and come into harmony with a small aspect of yourself? Share your experiences below!