In music, a melody is a single note, and chords are composed of multiple notes of harmonious intervals. Harmonization is defined as the chords that support a melody ("Harmonization"). Interestingly, we create harmony by expanding upon a melody with deliberate intention. Within the science of musical harmony, we are presented with a blueprint of how harmony exists. In this regard, music provides an approach to living: create beauty and meaning through intentional orientation.

As a concept applied through actions and attitudes, harmonization makes things suitable for each other. Harmonization involves elements such as alignment, adaptability, agility, fluidity, resilience, and acceptance ("Harmonization"). These characteristics are interdependent: fluidity allows for greater agility; agility and fluidity increase alignment; alignment improves adaptability, resulting in resilience; acceptance comes through confidence in the harmonization process. As a practice, through harmonization, in acknowledging forces outside our control, we can release what does not serve us and create space for what can. This intentional orientation is much like the relationship between melody and harmony.

Combining positive psychology, transpersonal psychology, and Eastern philosophy, research by Victoria Bowers and Paul Wong expands upon the concept of harmonization, or mature happiness, achieved through a healthy presence and absence of suffering (Bowers et al. 113). The authors suggest that meaning is achieved by understanding the broadest possible contexts of human experience and how one's specific circumstances fit within them: "One should pursue meaning rather than happiness because true happiness is a byproduct of seeking meaning" (Bowers et al. 114). Unlike positive thinking based on positive bias and illusion, mature happiness transcends traditional ideas by introducing the existential courage required to face dark realities and find true purpose in suffering by framing one's suffering within a broader context (Bowers et al. 115). Individual opportunities for peace, harmony, and agency become less dependent on outside forces (Bowers et al. 114).

For other harmonization methods, we can look to approaches stemming from logotherapy, created by Austrian psychologist, neurologist, philosopher, and holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. In the three years Frankl spent imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, he observed that the prisoners who retained a sense of meaning in their lives survived under the most brutal conditions imaginable, while those who did not perished (Frankl 36). Logotherapeutic techniques for finding meaning within suffering have also been used in modern medical settings combined with dereflection (having the patient shift the focus off of problems to prevent rumination) and Socratic questioning (asking questions to help a patient explore their deeper life's meaning; Mortell 40). Combining such techniques has been shown to minimize despair associated with life circumstances (Mortell 41).

These topics with such immense potential have received little attention in Western psychology due to their history in Eastern philosophy and mindfulness. WEIRD countries (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) prefer linear modes of cognition, whereas Eastern cultures embrace a holistic, dialectical approach accommodating contrasting perspectives (Lomas 50). In his article "Life Balance and Harmony: Wellbeing's Golden Thread," Tim Lomas discusses how balance and harmony combine to create personal well-being. Lomas explains that balance describes the quality of the relationship between two dialectically related phenomena, and harmony represents the dynamic coordination of multiple such balancing acts with well-being resulting from optimal balance (Lomas 51).

Possessing a sense of meaning is fundamental for human survival. A balanced integration of Eastern and Western approaches to addressing personal meaning in the face of suffering can direct us toward lasting, harmonious change. As the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how" (qtd. in Frankl 78).

Works cited:

Bowers, Victoria, and Paul Wong. "Mature Happiness and Global Wellbeing in Difficult Times." Scientific Concepts Behind Happiness, Kindness, and Empathy in Contemporary Society, 2019, pp. 112–34.

"Harmonization." Oxford English Dictionary Online, 1898, https://www.oed.com/dictionary/harmonization_n?tl=true. Accessed 26 April 2024.

Frankl, Viktor E. (Viktor Emil). Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press, 2006.

Lomas, Tim. "Life Balance and Harmony." International Journal of Wellbeing, vol. 11, no. 1, 2021, pp. 50–68, https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v11i1.1477.

Mortell, Susan. “Logotherapy to Mitigate the Harmful Psychological Effects of Current Events: A Tool for Nurses.” Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, vol. 58, no. 4, 2020, pp. 38–42, https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20200127-01.

Pictured above
Walker, Coire: Photograph of Osaka-Temmangu Shrine, Osaka, Japan. 25 Apr. 2023. Author's personal collection.