What is the Meaning of a Balanced Life?
As some of you have read in the post preceding this one, a nagging philosophical question has descended upon me where I ask, about the direction in which my life goes. Many good comments below, and I can identify with so many of them. It seems Jean-Luc Picard, http://jlpicard.blogspot.com/ says it well when he concludes, that we cannot let blogging drain us from the joys of life. To me, as I have written before, blogging should be an expression of one's life, and not one's life itself.
With my own words in mind, I have sought to begin living a more balanced life once again. What does that mean? For me, it involves participation in activities that are joyful. For example, there is an amazing collection at the Skirball Cultural Center, of the art of Jewish German artist Libermann, whose impressionist paintings in the 1920s were considered to be some of the very best that existed in Germany at that time. (see http://www.skirball.org/index.asp?s=exhibit&a=liebermann.) We went to see his exhibit and it was powerful and alluring as well. Before it began, we ate lunch in the patio of the museum, and were entertained by a flemenco dancer and a guitar group. A very good day indeed. Today, we go to a housewarming and then plan to go to hear a lecture by the author Salman Rushdie, who will speak on his new book, Shalimar the Clown. As an added bonus, yesterday, I received a wonderful CD I ordered by Moshe Shulman singing cantorial music for the High Holidays.
All of these activities, made me patiently aware that balance has been missing from my life these days. When looking at my own profile, it seems as if a reminder must be had regarding the nature of my own interests in music, art and culture, as they seem to have disappeared down a slippery slope over the past few months.
What is the meaning of a balanced life to you? How do you strive to attain it in the best of all possible ways?
Enjoy your day. My blogging over the week may be hit and miss due to a busy work schedule, and life adjustment plan.
Thank you for your minds.
With my own words in mind, I have sought to begin living a more balanced life once again. What does that mean? For me, it involves participation in activities that are joyful. For example, there is an amazing collection at the Skirball Cultural Center, of the art of Jewish German artist Libermann, whose impressionist paintings in the 1920s were considered to be some of the very best that existed in Germany at that time. (see http://www.skirball.org/index.asp?s=exhibit&a=liebermann.) We went to see his exhibit and it was powerful and alluring as well. Before it began, we ate lunch in the patio of the museum, and were entertained by a flemenco dancer and a guitar group. A very good day indeed. Today, we go to a housewarming and then plan to go to hear a lecture by the author Salman Rushdie, who will speak on his new book, Shalimar the Clown. As an added bonus, yesterday, I received a wonderful CD I ordered by Moshe Shulman singing cantorial music for the High Holidays.
All of these activities, made me patiently aware that balance has been missing from my life these days. When looking at my own profile, it seems as if a reminder must be had regarding the nature of my own interests in music, art and culture, as they seem to have disappeared down a slippery slope over the past few months.
What is the meaning of a balanced life to you? How do you strive to attain it in the best of all possible ways?
Enjoy your day. My blogging over the week may be hit and miss due to a busy work schedule, and life adjustment plan.
Thank you for your minds.
16 Comments:
Thank you for encouraging me to think about balance. At this moment my life is calm and peaceful, but still a bit off balance.
Love to Astro.
Good insight on Blogging. Blogging is not life. Blogging is not my Higher Power. Blogging is not my freind... and the list goes on.
What is on the other side of the fulcrum, when the blog is over here?
It's good to lead a balanced life. I sometimes feel sorry for olympic athletic people. They work so many hours on their sport that I wonder what kind of life do they have. Then they go to the Olympics and have their dreams dashed in a moment. Of course some do win, but where's the balance. I have to remind myself to keep balanced.
I want to hear about the speech from Salmon Rusdie.
I'm an extremist: black white, hot cold, right wrong, left right. There is no middle ground, no balance for me. So either I'm totally hetically busy and a complete bitch so I have no time to myself, or totally legaricly sitting on my butt blogging and a complete bitch because I'm bored.
Balance is an exotic foreign nation to me. Someplace I'd like to visit, dream of visiting, but I don't think it'll ever happen. Like Tristan da Cunha.
Unlike most of you, I don’t kid myself about Blogging or Balance. Because of who I am and where I live, I will never really achieve true balance in all critical aspects of my life. So I have learned to live with it; and that in itself is a balance of sort.
Blogging, used with care, is a good affordable therapy for me, and that too help balance my budget. No, Blogging is not my life, but it’s a part of my life, because it’s the internet. It opens new doors for this old one, and allows me to see myself with clear vision.
Here, I can talk with open and honest dialogue, without fear of losing my job, losing my home, or being kicked out of a society that don’t want me any way. I speaks on what I observe, trying hard not to judge anyone, because we are all allowed freedom to think and feel as we desire.
I find that all whites don’t hate me because of the color of my skin, and that there are extremes on both side. I find that in this great world of the either, or and in-between, I fit comfortable in-between all things --- accepting things I can not change, and changing those I can for the betterment of all the people in my life. This includes my Blog friends.
I am careful as to the Blogs I read, and if they get too extremes that it causes me pain, I just rest for awhile, and visit them when I can --- for I understand now, that Blogging helps to balance my life behind the computer screen on many levels.
For example: Lucy helped me out of a recent depression that in the past I would have had to visit the hospital for a couple of days. Barbara, Zombies, Meg, and many more --- encouraged me to be myself, and even though I am uneducated and my grammar is not all that, they don’t judge me. I feel a sense of inclusiveness in this world that I don’t get from the real world where we all live and have our being. These feelings of inclusiveness carry over into my life behind the screen and make it better.
Balance like anything comes and goes, base on moods and circumstances. Because of Blogging I have a better balance in my life, I am more friendly to the people I meet everyday on the elevator, in the parking lots, in the stores --- regardless of nationality or gender, and/or color of skin. I stop to smell the flowers more, I get outside of my limited world and travel with others into worlds I could never have dared hope I would visit, and it's free! And this is a good balance for me.
I have almost completed two novels, that I think are very good, and this comes from Blogging and input from those who take the time to read me. I am grateful and that’s real balance!
Yes, I ran on, but I wanted you all to understand about my particular balance, as it relates to my personal life and Blogging. I am not really hooked, but I find it, these days to be a necessary part of my life --- that and finding out the truth about the world I live in --- I daresay, I won’t stop Blogging anytime soon and that's a true balance.
Thoughtful post.
Such good comments here. Peace and calm, scott are wonderful to have whether resulting in balance or not.
Welcome trudging & Safeinspector..I share many of your good thoughts there.
LP - you have found a true voice inside of your own heart, which is quite magical.
Rusdie was a very eloquent speaker. He is extremely learned, and writes beautifully, and at times, his own voice were quite hypotnic as he read from his newest novel. He spoke for about l hour, 40 minutes, and there were probably more than 200 people in attendence. It was a very enjoyable afternoon to say the least! Most important, for me, was a feeling of being connected, once again, to the literary novel.
Hi Barbara
I came in off Brandon's site. Your last comment intrigued me.
A balanced life?
Lord have mercy, what's that?
How do I strive to attain it in the best possible way?
As a divorcing single mother, I ain't got no balance!
I walk on water girl.
I lived a faith based life.
That's my balance.
My faith.
As a Buddis, finding the balance of life is the ultimate goal. I try to remain conscious of what I'm doing at all times and make sure that I'm not going toward one extreme or the other.
Thanks for pointing out. But the problem is that some time it really is difficult to find out ballance. No?
Thanks for making us stop and think once again!!!
Liquidplastic...What a great comment!!
An excellent analysis, Barbara. Thank you for the mention. Blogging out to be an expression of ourself, but not be our entire life. There is a world beyond the computer ready to explore.
i think it has more to do that internet chating is addictive
Hi Barbara, sorry I haven`t been about lately, sent you an email today.
This post touches directly on my life and work at the moment, as you know.
If there is one thing in my life which I need to restore right now, it`s most definately balance.
As you know, recently my work has completely consumed all traces of my life. Long hours, deadlines, and a definate lack of sleep have created a complete imbalance in my life.
I have not been able to post on my blogsite now for over a month, I have had no personal space or time for anything pertaining to myself, no personal moments, no privacy, no special moment of silence to relax.
You know I love cooking....but not in these last two weeks.. even that time was shortened by what I class as `fast food`.(which I hate)
The result? I feel completely worn out, exhausted, and generally run down.
I have one more week of hell, and then I get my life back.
Then I have to restore the balance.
I particularly liked liquidplastics`
comments. Sounds like a lady who understands and appreciates balance.
Lovely comments.
Balance may not be easy, but if you know it's possible and continue to work towards it, you're doing all that you can. To worry about not being balanced means hat you know you are not, and the only way to restore it is to seek it.
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