Today, I found one long lost Christmas present.
It was lost deep under the “virtual tree” of the internet. I logged into my gmail account almost by mistake, and saw that I had nearly 500 messages unread.
But, the gift didn’t have any specific name on it, so I decided to unwrap it.
And, I AM SO GLAD I DID!
There were notes from many of you sent to me in response to many conversations on Harmony over the past two years.
I smiled and smiled as I opened them… and then felt a momentary disharmony of wishing that I had seen them sooner! So many people reaching out sharing some of their own stories of harmony, connecting with some of mine…
One of you had actually made it a 2015 resolution to meet me, and I missed it! George – we will make it happen in 2016!
So, first…
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
For writing and sharing and being there and staying in the conversation with me. I am so glad that you are out there, and I WILL do better about checking my gmail account weekly if not more often to respond.
Second,
SORRY, SORRY, SORRY!!!
Some of you wrote over and over again and went with NO response at all from me. I am so very sorry that your thoughts went into the cyberspace and laid dormant for so many months. But, I read through all of them tonight and I will respond.
Hmmmm… I didn’t realize anyone had this address for me, was my first thought. Not sure exactly how it works (perhaps its when you respond to the Harmony email), but the account is benavidesnestor@gmail.com. Feel free to email me anytime! I would love to hear from you!
Our lives and our journeys are unique and yet so similar. I appreciate you sharing about your kids who went to college, or the mixed feelings about those of you sending yours soon.. The struggles we are all having with our aging parents, our ailing spouses, or whatever other stresses fill our hearts and our minds. Thank you for sharing! We share the ever challenging work landscape... We are not alone and harmony is one way to share it. I particularly appreciated the person who told me that they look forward to Harmony as they looked forward to the USA Today and the column from David Wilson, "The Final Word". I smiled extra big at that one.
One of the things I loved about writing poems as a kid, is that I could go back and read them again, and it was like a tape recorder for emotions. This harmony conversations does that for me now.
In fact, part of opening this present from under the tree, is that I went back and read many of the conversations you were referring to… and I had forgotten writing them. But, as I read them, I remembered them… remembered the lesson… and was grateful for the moment of clarity when I wrote it.
If you started with me two years ago... Thank you! If you just joined the conversation recently, take a little stroll through the months. It's been fun! I still want to do a "Top 10". Shoot me your favorite one or two (I now know where to check my email!! :-)
I can’t believe that I have been writing about HARMONY for almost 2 years! It is now thousands of pages of content (yes I know, I can be way too verbose)… And, I am amazed and grateful that more and more people are with us every month.
I must find a way, and I will in 2016 to open this conversation up. I’d really like to have a Harmony Conversation Face to Face… and we will make that happen in 2016. I am going to pick a day and we will also host it via webex if it makes sense to open up the conversation to everyone that is on it. How cool would that be? Let’s have a HARMONY Day in 2016!
I hope everyone who celebrates, had a magnificent Christmas.
THANK YOU for this wonderful little present that you left me under our virtual tree. What a big miss on my part… but what a deeply satisfying way to end the year!
Picasso says, “The purpose of life is to find your gift. The meaning of life is to give it away.”
I don’t know if Harmony is my gift… but I am working to understand and unwrap it and certainly love share it.
I do know that YOU are my gift… your words, your support, your interest, your connection… YOU!!! Deb, Luis, Claudia, Shannon, Cecilia, Susy, Nancy, Randy, Mark, Greg, George, Ms. Leslie, Jodi, Becky, Blake, Jordan... & ALL of YOU... Too many to name, but not too many to be grateful for and love!!! How very cool to be sharing this with all of you...
Thank you for being with me for a few days or a few years.
I am with you in HARMONY… in the joy of it, in the struggle for it, in the beauty of it… in the reality of it.
Thank you for this most perfect last gift that you left me under my virtual tree.
YOU inspire me! Life inspires me.
The best is yet to come…
Nestor