(This image is a logo off a South African wine bottle)

I write the first line. I pause. I remove my glasses. I adjust my seating and I begin to type.

Balance. The ying and yang. The desirable point between two opposing forces.

“Balance is the result of a number of body systems working together. Specifically, in order to achieve balance the eyes (visual system), ears (vestibular system) and the body’s sense of where it is in space (proprioception) ideally need to be intact. Also the brain, which compiles this information, needs to be functioning normally.”
-Wikipedia

What does this mean to me? To you? To us?

Balance is one of the things I pursue. If I were to be balanced, I would consider myself successful. This is what I tend to do.

I go to one extreme, then the opposite extreme, then I settle in the middle, then I fight it all over again.

I say “Never” then I say “Always” then I say “Sometimes.”

I say “White” then “Black” then “Grey” and then grey becomes boring and I demand colour.

I noticed one day that I was craving emotional and mental balance when I placed my ripe tomatoes this way:

This is my small example of creating balance.

I try to eat healthy. I try to eat fresh veggies, local produce, farm eggs. And then I eat Lindt chocolate from Costco to add balance to my life. Balancing my life takes practise. And I need a lot more.

I vascillate between being extreme. I decide that I need to floss my teeth every day, then three times a day, then not at all then once in a while. But always, I crave a balance.

And do you know what balances me the most? 3 things.

1. Time with Marc- as a way of self-reflecting, he is my mirror.

2. Time alone to take stock of what and why I do what I do.

3. Writing. This is my meditation. Whenever I am feeling frazzled or unstable, I write in a free flow and it’s like finding my centre of gravity again. It pulls me together.

Do you crave balance? What do you do to achieve the small slices of sanity that balance allows?