Once in a while we find ourselves in situations where no matter what is said or done, there always seems to be discord around us. Is it us that create it or is it the time and place we find ourselves. I can think of several good examples of discordant situations I have found myself and the affects of both.
Some years ago, I would have to go to a particular office on occasion where I would find the people smartly dressed, the desks free of clutter, and even the seasonal decorations neatly and orderly placed. I will never know why, but each and every time I walked into that office I felt queasy, and by all means a sense of discord. I never spent any more time there than I absolutely had to due to that sense of something being not correct. The strangest is that no matter what type of mood I was in before entering, I always felt the same. I was happy the time arrived when I didn’t have to go there anymore. Maybe the building was built on an Indian burial mound or there was something terrible that happened on that site many years before the existing building was built and in a sub-atomic sense, the discord remains. I would always take a deep breath of relief when I left that building and found myself back to normal.
A most recent event of discord was an acreage that I showed not long ago. The moment I drove into the dooryard I said to myself, “Oh my goodness! What a wreck of a place!” Since I had arrived early and the buyers were late, I got out of the car and began walking around investigating the buildings, the grove, the lay of the land and the views.
Everywhere I looked I found discord. Some of the buildings had fallen into complete decay and only their foundations remained, while others were in a very sad state of dis-repair. When the buyers finally arrived, we went into the home and found more quirky attempts at updates as well as much deferred maintenance. We found it a bit laughable how people turn a blind eye to their surroundings and are comfortable with that. We went back out to see the buildings and grove and not to my surprise, the buyers were somewhat interested in the place. I said to them, “There is something very grounding about this site and believe it or not, I could see myself spending years bringing it back to its former glory.” When I said that, I meant it. There was something, something, something about that site that I couldn’t see, touch, taste or smell that justified my feelings. I believe the buyers felt similarly. The gentle breezes out there even seemed inviting. So I guess a great fix for the feeling of discord is to just get a little air.
