To
hold in equal measure, of equivalent weight, symmetrically proportioned: these
are not the deepest way to hold balance in our lives. Apportioning the day in
tidy increments, having the same number of items in each column, dismissing
what is unpleasant, clinging to that which is pleasing: these, too, will preclude
our ability to find harmony.
I
like to think of life balance as the shifting space that exists in between the
outward edges of the pendulum’s slow, steady, swing. An alive, ticking, vital, rocking,
spacious region.
That
art piece clock I had on my wall for years had a thin metal black disk hanging
at the end of the pendulum. Whenever I had to reset the time or refresh the
batteries, I was struck anew by how narrow the outermost east and west margins
of the arc really were. It would take a minute or two for me to believe the clock
would continue running with such minimal motion.
This
is how I envision balance today: perpetual fluidity that is free within slender
extremes.
Whenever
I used to make pro and con lists in my youth, I would get stuck within minutes
– clarity obfuscated by the need to put the equal opposite on each side of the
list. I would end up with even numbers of items in favor of and against
whatever dilemma I was struggling to overcome. This enslaving balancing act
never worked for me.
It
seems like finding balance is much more about allowing for the errant, the
awkward, the disparate. Life stuff happens and it doesn’t always occur in
parallel sums.
“Balance”
in the natural world is necessitated by fluctuation within a particular margin,
is propelled by change, and – when unmeddled with – will simply restore itself. It also requires a reliance on being part of a system.
But
can we learn to trust that showing up fully, unabashedly – really, to each and
every crumb and cookie thrown our way will
keep us within the pendulum’s natural swing? For it is not within our capacity
as human individuals to keep it all moving at some rate or pace or way we deem manageable…nor
is that the way of Nature's cycles - of which, of course, we are a part.
All blog images created & photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: "©2015 JenniferJWilhoit/TEALarbor stories. AllRightsReserved."
