Druid in the City: A Moment of Balance

Here in the northern hemisphere, we’re approaching the Autumn Equinox. Down south, my friends in Australia are getting ready for their Spring Equinox.  Times of balance, where day and night are the same time all around the world. It’s a time where magic calls to acknowledge the moment of balance as we prepare to swing into another cycle and towards another Solstice.

I’ve never believed that balance was something we could maintain at certain levels always. Balance ebbs and flows through our lives. Some weeks I work more; some weeks, I work less. Some weeks I sleep more, or do ritual more, or meditate more. Some weeks I do less. There’s a thread of balance that averages out over time, a flow that works. Or there used to be. Finding balance is an ongoing process. When I think I’ve figured it out, something else changes and throws everything out of balance again.

This year has been WEIRD. You know … what with the pandemic, murder hornets, massive wildfires, crazy hurricanes, … and that’s not counting any of the crazy political stuff.  Weird. And so, ever so, not in balance. When did murder hornets become the most normal thing in a list like that?

Now … now I’m entirely off-kilter. Everything is a confusing mess, and I don’t know Monday from Saturday. I’m working more, sleeping more but less well, eating more, drinking more, walking less, and generally feeling out of balance. All. The. Time. And it’s been this way for MONTHS!

My emotions are not as negative as they were earlier in the pandemic to be, and I’m starting to get to the place where it’s not all horrible. But still …. I need to work a little less, sleep a little better, and live a little more. This pandemic isn’t going anywhere, but it’s time for me to get up and go a little bit more.

So for this Equinox, I seek balance. But where do I find it?

I must define it for myself. What feeds my soul? What do I have to do to keep our lives going? How do I set my boundaries for work and those things that are nice to have but don’t feed my soul?  Where is the balance for all of them?

I spent a couple of weeks tracking my time with a time tracking app and realized that I really need an hour in the morning to wake up and get ready for the day. I need another hour in the evening to unwind and get ready for bed. I could sacrifice these times, but my days are so off-kilter that it’s not worth it if I do that. I realize that work takes about 9 hours a day … or at least I can probably limit it to that. I can carve some time in between meetings to knit or crochet or spin or just be.

So, in this Equinox season, it’s time to find my balance again. Time to take that information, to review what I really need, and seek the balance again.