Thinking about balance

(Nimue)

Equinoxes always invite considerations of balance, what it means to us and where we are with it. Do you need more balance? Do you feel like you’re in stasis and need to shake your life up? Are some aspects of your life out of balance? Are you experiencing balance as harmony or as many forces pulling in different directions? Is balance a good thing for you?

I’m finding that I feel most balanced when there’s a lot going on. When there are many things pulling me happily in different directions, that works for me. I like having a mix of energies in my life, different flavours of things, different spaces to be in. I’m calmer and much more settled in myself when my life is more chaotic.

Conversely, in the times when life was narrow and predicable, I felt unstable. Emotionally I was far less balanced and I was not at peace with myself.

What works as balance for me may well look like mayhem from the outside. The ways of living that some people would no doubt find soothing and peaceful leave me fractious and uncomfortable.

Balance is a really personal thing. Your emotional centre of gravity won’t be the same as mine. The balance and poise of a heron is very different from the balance of a spider web. Some insects can balance on the surface of water and others are caught in it and likely to die if that happens. 

Understanding what kind of balances you need, and how that works for you can be really productive. Other people’s stories about what balance means might not be relevant to you at all. Grounding practices really only work if you know what makes you feel centred, and that might not be what works for everyone else. I’m better off singing or dancing if I need to reconnect with myself. Some people do better with water to centre themselves rather than thinking about ground. Some people are happiest and most comfortable with their heads in the clouds and that’s fine too.