Wednesday, April 2, 2014

B is for Balance

It's the A to Zed Challenge! I'll be posting the first half of the month from Ottawa where I'm staying with my youngest and his partner and their newest - a little guy who is 12 days old today! Yay!

Theme? Writing and Life is what comes to me... how to balance the writing life with the other tugs you may have...

The ABCDEaria of the Writing Life -


B is for Balance 

Balance is such a tricky word, no? Balance doesn't mean standing still so there is no need for balance - it means moving out on the thin branches so you can smell the air while still staying rather rooted. A little too far and off you tumble but too close to the trunk and you don't get to see the view. Balance is what our body knows instinctively. From the heart's systole and diastole to the way, if we listen, we know if we are hungry, or tired, or needing a cuddle - our body is constantly adjusting, calibrating. How does that work with the writing/life balance? I need to listen to my body and remember what feeds my creativity - both expansion and contraction. I go out into the world, breathe in all that variety and then come back in, breathe out, rest and retreat. Over and over again - both in big and little gulps. This is a big expansion right now and it will be followed by a month and a half in Labrador which is a mega retreat - going in and being alone for ten hour days.
this is the fella at the tent - the dog outside, the kettle on...

8 comments:

Alex Hurst said...

Sounds like you have a great retreat ahead of you! Have lots of fun. :)

Alex Hurst, fantasy author in Japan. "B is for Books" is my current post.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Enjoy the time with your 12-day old! How sweet. :)

Balance is really key, isn't it? So often I don't achieve it. Nice reminder, Jan...thanks.

Liza said...

Oh lovely. New baby, such joy! Happy to see a post from you, Jan. Deep breaths and keep, yes, balanced.

Laurel Garver said...

Beautifully expressed--we do need both expansion and contraction to have balance. Whether we're tempermentally more introverted or extroverted means finding balance will require stepping the opposite direction of what usually feels comfortable. As an introvert, it's very easy for me to become a hermit, but for balance, I push my self to get out and connect.

Nice to meet you thru the A-Z
Laurel
Laurel's Leaves

Bish Denham said...

Just walking is a balancing act. Someone once explained it to me... walking is controlled falling. Think about it, you pick up your foot, move it through the air and as you set it down you shift your weight onto it, falling forward. We are balancing machines!

Anonymous said...

Jan - I love this way of looking at balance. It's risk/safety. It's time management. It's healthy food/satisfying cravings. It's...life.

L.G. Keltner said...

A new baby is always exciting! Congratulations to your family, and I hope you enjoy your time together.

Balance is tricky, but we need to make an effort to achieve balance in our lives. Great post!

I'm a minion in Captain Alex's Ninja Army. You can find me here:
http://lgkeltner.blogspot.com/
http://warpednerdiversity.blogspot.com/

Patricia Stoltey said...

That sounds like an incredible retreat, but hard to do day after day. I'd have to have a trunk full of books and a good supply of pens and notebooks.