The Balance of the Season
Happy Fall, y’all!
Monday 22 September marked the equinox, the time of the year when time hovers, just for a moment, in perfect balance. The day and night are split evenly, twelve hours for each in a twenty four hour cycle.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it means our nights are slowly growing longer as we slide towards the longest night of the year. For my friends in the Southern Hemisphere, it means you’ve passed this point, and are officially heading towards summer.
Balance is the perfect addition this month’s theme of Time. There’s a lot of information out there about “work/life balance” and creating the perfect schedule to somehow miraculously include All The Things into our schedule and have it be perfectly “balanced.”
Balance isn’t a destination: it’s a state of being. We are consistently being called to balance, and different inputs and outputs affect that balance.
I like to picture balance as a set of scales. Even if the scales could be weighted perfectly, we do not live in a vacuum, and there will always be something that causes them to tip. The trick is to keep them from tipping too far one way or the other— that’s when burnout, anxiety, stress find a way to creep in.
Balance is about being attentive and meticulous about who we are and how we are.
It means committing to things that mean something to you, that bring value to your life, and showing up for them. It doesn’t have to be done “perfectly”— the only way to do it wrong is to show up as anything less than your full self.
Balance is about paying attention to the moment to moment ways we spend and give our energy.
Aka “mindfulness.” It’s not a new thing but, with all the things that pull at our attention, I find it more than challenging to implement. Mindfulness doesn’t mean you have sit perfect Buddha style on a pillow and “clear your mind”; it means that whatever you’re doing at at any given time, you give your whole attention to. When you’re doing the dishes, for example, you’re not focused on doing the dishes so you can get it done and flop on the couch.
That’s thinking about what’s next.
Mindfulness is staying engaged in the present moment, and to find that balance within to remain there without worrying about what’s happening tomorrow or that awkward conversation you had with your neighbor earlier.
It’s about tuning into how your body is in that moment. Back to our dishes example, feeling the water run over your hands, how slippery the soap is. Do you lean against the counter and get your shirt wet? (Me) Or do you have perfect hinge posture?
Dishes have always been a source of angst for me (just ask my mom). But, if you eat at home, they are a fact of life. One way I’ve found balance with them is not by rushing through to the next thing, but flipping the script: I’m grateful I have dishes because it meant I have good food to eat and a family to eat it with.
We are the creators.
It doesn’t have to be dishes. It can be anywhere in our lives that we rush through, feel out of whack, or try to avoid. Balance isn’t about blasting through things, but instead sitting with it, and really looking at it with curiosity. Kinda like a life-sized science experiment.
We get to create our own reality, get to choose what balance looks and feels like in our own lives. We get to notice where our attention and energy flows, and adjust as we see fit.