Harmony Hill…Where Mountains Meet Magic!

This is an ancient (from ‘my’ day) adage expressing a juxtaposed dilemma… despite the fact that the cobbler mends and makes shoes, he doesn’t have time so his own children go without them.  I’m gathering that this relates largely to the fact that all too often we work to create many things but don’t actually take the time or have the time to enjoy most of what we create ourselves.

I bring this up for a good reason, because of a personal experience that caused this reality to hit home today. Recently, I have struggled with clarity about my role as it pertains to a business venture I’m involved in outside of Harmony Hill. Without going into the gory details, suffice it to say I have been left feeling like I was falling short, my personal capabilities inadequate for the task. I found I was frustrated over not being able to think of exactly what I could do to be the change agent in this business venture that I desired to be.

Being a long time student of the teachings of Abraham by Esther and Jerry Hicks, I knew my strong focus on really wanting to contribute was shooting off “rockets of desire” and so it was no surprise to me when one day, about  two weeks ago, I received clarity.  Clearly I could not alter my education nor my personal expertise , at least not in a timely manner….but here’s the ‘aha’… the Law of Attraction and my belief in those Universal Laws were always within my power to access….no formal training required!  Just like the Noetic Science in Dan Brown’s, “The Lost Symbol”;  “mind over matter”, “ask and you will receive” …”focus and create”.  Excited,  I realized I could make it my ‘job’ to visualize and create. By focusing my intention,  I could literally manifest the people, situations and events that we needed to succeed!  I started work at my new job immediately. I sat inside and meditated. I sat outside and meditated. I tried with great intention but something about my ‘work’ environment felt missing.

What does my ineptitude and epiphany have to do with cobblers and children with no shoes?  I simply realized this….I live at a retreat center. I have 70 acres in some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever known at my disposal. I personally conjured up and created, on this land, a space we call “Whimsical Meditation”.  With it’s open air gazebo lined with fanciful wind chimes and woodland creatures, it sits like a gem tucked into the woods. And, as the woods open out onto the adjoining meadow it has the most gorgeous vista…one that has always reminded me of a backdrop for the Sound of Music. It is a magical place. It is a reflective place. It is a metaphorical ‘work place’  for all who seek a canvas in the mind on which to create….and here’s the point in fact… Until today, I had never personally sat there.   I envisioned it, I helped to physically create it but sadly until today, I had never taken the time to make myself a pair of shoes.

Carpe Diem…Carpe  Calciatus,

Jana

There are days…even occasions when a full week will go by that I may not venture off “The Hill”.  Interestingly, I don’t mind it… really.  Migrating to Upstate NY from Orlando, Florida, I know what a pain major traffic can be…trust me the only thing Oneonta, New York and Orlando, Florida have in common is they both start with an “O”.  Yet, often after being on “The Hill” a week or so,  I’ll  have to leave to drive into town. I catch myself, especially around Walmart [the major attraction in town!] wondering… “where did all this traffic come from? There must be at least…what, ten cars in front of me!”  Contrast comes in all shapes and sizes.

When you’re on 70 acres in a rural country setting, it kind of feels like being in your own private state park [or retreat as this case may be].  You begin to feel the peace and quiet deep in your bones.  You notice after awhile that the strangeness you couldn’t put your finger on may have been the fact that you haven’t heard one single police car or fire truck, sirens blaring down your street.  Instead, the stillness of the night gets its competition from owls hooting, peepers peeping, frogs croaking…you get the picture. Hustle & bustle is replaced with the BusiNess of Nature.  Traffic noise is replaced by the wind blowing through the trees creating a sequence of activity followed by stillness …a stillness and serenity of energy unlike any other, it’s absence noticeable and amplified when you leave it.  Contrast at its best.

“The City”….bright lights, big city. That’s what people who visit Harmony Hill from “The City” seek respite from.  Whether you’re from NYC or another big city [although The Big Apple is the mac-daddy of them all] sometimes it takes such contrast to be reminded that we basically live in a container.  I’ll use my country analogy…you are the flower and where you live is your container.  How well your flower grows depends largely on your container; how much sunlight do you get? Are you getting too little or too much water? What kind of nutrients are you getting?….and hands down … is your Human ‘flower’ happy in it’s container’s environment?

Sometimes we’re fortunate and we can pick up our container and move it from Florida to Upstate New York.  Sometimes we’re lucky just to have the opportunity to experience great contrast.  When we are, we are allowed a sneak peak at transitional contrast…the contrast between the echoes of the past and the peacefullness of now, this is the present.

It’s not where your container resides, it’s how well you take care of the container while it’s there.  It doesn’t matter if the contrasting view is seagulls or chickadees or both….human flowers turn toward contrast like plants turn toward sun…that’s why God/The Divine/The Universe/The One gives us so many chances to experience and create it.

Jana