Monday 21 July 2008

Balance

This week I'm meditating on 'balance'. Balance is something I feel to be very important in life and often when something is wrong, it is because something or other is out of balance. I'm a very up and down person mood-wise, so trying to find that elusive balance is a key part of my meditations anyway. And this week I want to re-connect with ideas of balance, how to achieve it and how to discuss it with children, so I'm making it a theme.

I've also been wondering if there can be a negative side to balance. This isn't an idea I've previously entertained, but today I'm wondering if trying to maintain balance in my life can stop me committing too deeply to any one thing? And is so, is this a good or bad thing? Another negative side to balance is feeling a pressure to balance things - like when you feel you're juggling too many balls in the air at once and are terrified you'll drop one. Is there an optimal number of things in life to keep in balance before just trying to keep balanced knocks you off balance itself?

Or am I just thinking too much again?

2 comments:

arwen_tiw said...

I think you're pondering something really essential there! That has got me thinking for sure... This is how I'm feeling - without the flow and fluctuation of life it's hard to appreciate the "peak" moments. Perhaps without the pendulum effect we would stagnate. and as you say, be unable to truly throw ourselves into anything?

And mustn't we consider that cycles are built into all things and that fighting the ups and the downs is fighting our own very nature?

Maybe when we talk about aiming for balance we really mean we are aiming to feel centred in our spirit no matter what, and can therefore embrace the nature of the down times too? That kind of balance would not come at a cost of overcommitment or lack of satisfaction...

Liz said...

Yes, I asked this question on a Druidry forum and someone made some very helpful comments with pendulum imagery - balance is when the pendulum is swinging smoothly from one side to the other but not when it is swinging wildly throughout the 360 degrees. You could be balanced when sitting in the middle of a seesaw but actually you'd just be static and not moving which is balance stagnated.
I guess what I'm pondering is how to stop that pendulum swinging too wildly and out of control.
But I'm also wondering how to be sure that that rush of inspiration and enthusiasm we get at the beginning of a good idea isn't 'too much' and the sign of the pendulum beginning to swing wildly.
I think I'm trying to pause and think when I would previously have rushed in to things or to saying/doing things.
Hmm, thanks for commenting, it's nice to know it's not just me thinking about these things!