Balance
January 10, 2010 by Lisa Call
Not Doing It All
A few weeks back I looked at the calendar and realized I had only 7 weeks to prepare for a solo exhibit. I came up with a schedule that is aggressive, yet doable to create all new work for the show over those 7 weeks.
It’s doable in the sense that if I quit doing most everything else in my life, like paying bills, marketing my artwork, cooking dinner, writing long blog posts, hanging out with friends all weekend, etc… I can get all of the artwork completed by the delivery date.
I’ve had a vision for this show for a long time and I decided to go for it even it it generates some imbalance in my immediate future.
What is Balance?
Which brings up the question – exactly what is balance?
Looking in the dictionary for balance these defintions jump out at me:
5 a : stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis b : equipoise between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements
6 a : an aesthetically pleasing integration of elements
9 : mental and emotional steadiness
That sounds about right. Stability, integration, steadiness. Bring it all together and making it all work, magically.
Embracing the Imbalance
There are few days, or even weeks, in my life where I feel I’ve balanced all of my desires, intentions and responsibilities. Something always seems to have to give.
My life is chronically out of balance on a day to day basis, yet if I step back and look at the big picture (such as my list of 100 accomplishments for 2009) everything seems to work out.
I need to just relax and accept that on the micro-level things feel imbalanced.
When I was a stay at home mom, we called this sequencing and much as been written on the topic.
The idea is we can have it all, just not all at once. Keeping this in mind is supremely helpful in remaining relaxed as paperwork, laundry, email and blog comments pile up while I’m creating in my studio.
Wrap Up
If you are feeling unbalanced, take a look back over the long term, are things really unbalanced or are you sequencing?
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—lisa
Thinking Big about Art
I’ve chosen “balance” as my word for the year, I look forward to your next posts. Your tweets, blog etc are inspiring me to stay on task this year — but with balance!
Yes! Short-term imbalances can add up to long-term balance. I know I work better this way, concentrating on one thing at a time instead of trying to do a little bit of everything all the time.
Eating works this way too. You don’t have to eat some exact number of pieces of fruit every day to be healthy. Just make sure you have some fruit a few days a week and you’re good. As long as it balances out over the long run, you’re fine.
Good luck getting ready for the solo show! I know you can pull it off, and it will be amazing.
Hi Lisa,
This is an especially meaningful blog post for me. I love the concept “sequencing” and I thank you for introducing me to this sense of coordinating your life.
I have been feeling unbalanced lately because of some life circumstances have been getting in the way of me being able to pursue making art, which is probably my most important goal in life :) But sequencing makes sense, and what I have probably been going through is just a bout of different things taking temporary priority, soon I will be able to get back to art making.
Good luck with meeting your solo show deadline! Liz
I think one thing to ponder is the difference between balance and stasis.
–noun, plural sta⋅ses /ˈsteɪsiz, ˈstæsiz/ [stey-seez, stas-eez]
1. the state of equilibrium or inactivity caused by opposing equal forces.
2. Pathology. stagnation in the flow of any of the fluids of the body, as of the blood in an inflamed area or the intestinal contents proximal to an obstruction.
Balance is something that may look like stability but is truely made up of constant small adjustments, a fluid lively state always in a state of becoming rather than something acheived and then done. I don’t think any of us are happy if we’re stagnating!