Here’s a question to start your New Year off right – Are you feeling well-balanced as 2024 extends ahead of us?

And what does balance mean to you? We are all tiptoeing across the individual tightropes of our lives, juggling any number of activities while trying to stay centered and not fall into the abyss.

Extend yourself too far and you become like the camel, wary of that one last straw. Draw yourself in too far and life becomes bland, boring, and predictable.

If you’ve ever tried to hold a tree pose in yoga, with just one foot on the ground, you can only imagine what it must have been like to be Karl Wallenda with nothing but a tightly-strung cable between him and the ground hundreds of feet below.

Highwire artists like him employed what is called a balance beam, a long pole with a weight on either side to steady themselves in the wind as they traversed the wire at great heights.

For our little thought experiment, imagine that is you. The cable beneath your feet is your life’s path. What are the weights on either side of your bar that keep you in balance?

Here are the two that I like to keep in mind. On one side, you have contribution. Whatever it is that you are passionate about that you can put out into the world. It could be art, music, or dance. Or it could be rescuing animals, caring for elders, or teaching kids. There are as many forms of contribution as there are human souls on the planet. (Reportedly 8 billion as of New Year’s Day!)

Contribution is anything but one-size-fits-all. Whenever I’m coaching someone who is at an existential dead end wondering what to do with their life, I always advise them to figure out what they have to contribute and where to look for the abundance in it.

On the other side of the balance beam rests self-care. You can only contribute from solid ground. While contribution can take any number of forms, self-care shares certain commonalities. We’ve all got the baseline of a human body. When it’s well cared for, gets proper rest and nutrition, and kept limber, flexible, and in-shape we’ve got something to work with.

Self-care is inward facing, and develops through the cultivation of good habits. We curate what the world has to offer and bring it inside in order to take care of ourselves.

Contribution begins in the heart, and when we are well resourced and able, we can put it out into the world to improve the lives of others.

One doesn’t happen without the other. The balance between these two is the dance of life. However things balance for you, hang in there for the year ahead, and let your path be a light and lively one!

Much love till next Monday, and Happy New Year!

M+

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine