“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” – Thomas Merton
Before I became a mom, I didn’t think much about balance. As the master of my own destiny, and therefore my own schedule, I’d work too late, stay up too late, drink too much coffee and eat too much junk. Lots of intensity, but not so much on the balance, order, rhythm, or harmony.
Now that I’m a Mom, I am convinced that life requires a constant quest for balance. Most obviously, my work and family life need to be balanced in a much more precise way than ever before.
But I also need to balance my desire for my little girl to reach each childhood milestone with my wistful longing for her infant days.
I need to balance the way I teach her about the world, so that she will love math and science but also know her way around paints and paintbrushes.
I need to balance my intense worry that the handfuls of sand she picks up at the park will end up in her mouth with her pure delight at the sensation of tiny grains moving across her fingers.
I need to balance my neurotic need to get things done and be efficient with her need to dawdle and take her time to explore the world.
I need to balance how much I wish I could stay home with my baby everyday with how good it is that she expands her worldview by growing close to people other than me and that I make sure I have time to follow some dreams and explore some passions.
So this is where I will explore what it means to search for those balances. I will share my successes and my failures. I will explore the things I am passionate about and I will follow my dreams. I will let you into the world I share with my family. We all will laugh and we will cry. And it will be a blast.
Enjoy the journey!