Happy Friday! Another week is coming to a close. It is amazing how quickly the time is flying by this year. Though, in fairness, it feels like that every year.  Today’s inspiration is from Gertrude Stein on the importance of harmony, which seems appropriate at the end of the week.

Harmony is essential to life and to art, at least it feels that way to me. In writing, tension, conflict, and suspense are all necessary for compelling story. We know this in our fingers when typing and in our brains when editing. But there is also an element of harmony that is necessary. This doesn’t mean we get rid of tension or obstacles, but  if everything in the story is going well, then the writing itself is in harmony. All the parts are working together to create a story that we don’t want to leave. That, to me, is harmony on the page, but we also need harmony in our lives.

As we create  writing, calligraphy, letterpress, doodles, or something else, we have to have some part of our being and life that is in harmony with our art. I don’t buy into the idea that we need to suffer in our lives in order to create. I take solace in positive psychology research (and I love this talk by Shawn Achor on the happiness advantage) that shows our brains are more creative when we are happy. And, happiness is easier to achieve when there is harmony.

I hope you find harmony in your work and have a wonderful weekend full of moments that make you smile. 🙂