Author: clfuu

Sometimes, despite the odds, we achieve a balance that seems impossible.

What are the ways that you have stretched to balance when it seemed impossible to do so?

There are times when everything seems perfectly balanced. At those times, we should ask ourselves at whose expense our own balance is coming. Are there people holding us up? Are there people whose lives are unbalanced by our seeking balance?

At whose expense does your balance come?

We need both light and dark in our lives. They need to be balanced. The Earth teaches us this. At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, we are experiencing the healing power of darkness in the shortest days of the year. At the same time, our siblings in the Southern Hemisphere are experiencing the rejuvenating power of sunlight in summer. And near the equator, the light and dark stay balanced all year long.

How do you balance light and darkness in your life?

A slackline is a thin strip of cord suspended between two fixed objects. It is not tight (or it’d be a tightrope), so it gives and bounces with every movement. In order to balance on the slackline, one needs to constantly adjust one’s body. The adjustments are small, but important, and the exercise takes concentration.

How do you find yourself needing to adjust in order to find balance?

In nature, balance is not an endpoint but a process, called “homeostasis.” Bodies and systems have intricate feedback loops that keep moving around the balance point. When something goes wrong, that balance becomes impossible–like when an infection leads to fever by disrupting the balance point of our body’s temperature. The fever is a signal to us that our bodies are out of balance.

What are the signals that your life is out of balance?