About Finding Harmony

Why finding harmony? How can you find harmony or have more peaceful relationships?

Someone once wrote this wisdom to me: “I love your name [Melodie]. Does it challenge you in a special way to be the note in life that makes harmony out of the diverse tones that often don’t make sense–until the melodic line is played with them?”

I’d never thought about that but ever since, I’ve kept that quote about making harmony topmost on my bulletin board and pondered if it were true. So that’s why I chose Finding Harmony for the theme of this blog.

I am a “Jill-of-most-media” writer: book author, columnist, editor, producer, script writer, websites, Facebook, Twitter—almost everything except novels, electronic games or apps. My husband and I have three adult daughters, two grandsons, one dog and one cat.

My most recent book is Whatever Happened to Dinner: Recipes and Reflections for Family Mealtime, (with 100 recipes). Even though my children are grown, my husband and I (watched by our dog and cat) still sit down for a meal together almost every night. So this blog also shares recipes, food adventures, and encouragement to keep family mealtime. Which were not always harmonious, but that’s ok.

I have been writing the weekly Another Way syndicated newspaper column for over 25 years through my primary occupation as a writer for MennoMedia. The column is currently in seven newspapers in the U.S. and Canada plus at http://www.Thirdway.com/aw. I’m also the editor of Valley Living (quarterly tabloid) for Media for Living, a smaller organization, at http://www.mediaforliving.org

So how is this blog different from my column and stuff I write elsewhere? The blog is be far more personal, interacting with readers more, sharing PHOTOS! and personal projects, spouting off without worrying about newspaper editors (love ’em) or hewing to the purposes of my employers. My purpose here is offering insights and encouragement (including from others) on how we can all find peace, harmony and all that grand stuff in our daily personal, community and wider world. Maybe. Whew.

I’m a Presbyterian who was raised Mennonite who married a Lutheran (talk about finding harmony) and have worked for the Mennonite church ever since graduating from a Mennonite college after serving in a Mennonite VS program. You get the idea. Our church is a peacemaking congregation made up of house churches engaged in mission on the pattern of Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C., if you have ever heard of it.

So that’s a little of where I’m coming from. Welcome.