Service March 20, 2010

From SolSeed

This is the working program for one of our Group Experiences.

Balance at The Equinox

March 20, 2010

Program

Opening Words and Lighting of the Chalice

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to work, and a time to rest;

a time for noise, and a time for silence;

a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

a time for friends, and a time for solitude;

a time for starfaring, and a time to take root on the earth.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

~based on Ecclesiastes 3

Spirit of Life

Machines by Michael Donaghy

Gather the Spirit

Two Balance Games

Here Comes the Sun with Judy and Steve

Thoughts on Balance and Discussion with Heather

Come, Sing a Song with Me

Closing Words

Like a cyclist or a harpsichordist,

may we balance by moving,

and by balancing, move.

Blessed be.

Blessed be.

Notes from the discussion

• Heather is in the middle of trying to discover for herself what balance is or could look like
• Group is asked to write or draw ideas/images that remind us of balance or finding one's center
• Heather's old images of balance
  • Shortly after becoming a parent, her first image was a to-do list
  • Then a pie chart, dividing up finite personal resources
  • Tug-of-war with Heather as the rope (passive)
  • "Hats" that she wears at various times, ex. sports, childcare, creativity, career
  • Teeter-totter: Balance shifted so far in one direction, toward adapting and accomodating external needs, that she was coming close to burnout
• Heather's present balance issues
  • work vs. family
  • Kid's book describing how you need to balance caring for body, soul, heart, and mind
    • Main character is too focused on mind (reading books)
    • Body: riding bikes
    • Soul: lying and watching clouds w/ harmonica-playing friend
    • Heart: drawing pictures w/ friend
  • Accepting life as it is, vs. need to make changes
  • Past, present, future
  • Self vs. others
  • Flexibility vs. structure (Heather tends to prefer the latter)
  • Intuitive vs. logical/linear thought
• Heather's new images
  • Standing on one foot while holding the other
    • Hand on your stomach/center helps
  • Venn diagram of all areas of life
    • Self and self-study/mindfulness is at center where all circles overlap
  • Two that Heather uses w/ clients, kids & families at a mental health clinic
    • Giant wave representing emotions threatening to carry you away
    • Surfboarder riding on top of the wave
• Others' images
  • John:
    • Parachute
    • Snowboarder
    • Person hanging on two ends of a rope around a pulley
    • Computer, representing need for balance at his software job
      • He recently started running during lunch breaks
  • Shelley: Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill
  • Steve (writing): Some oscillation away from balance is usually essential, but you have more freedom when near a balance point
  • Judy (poems)
    • "Raking dry leaves in a wind"
      • Last two lines: "Our work is undone behind us as we go on / doing the work because there's work to be done."
    • "Spooning away"
  • Lyric:
    • Fractal
      • Within each area of life that you have to balance w/ other areas, there are sub-areas to balance as well
      • Like w/ the Venn diagram, you're at the center
    • Seesaw: using many tiny muscles to keep it level
    • Finding the appropriate/necessary amount for each area (doesn't have to be 8 hrs per area per day just because it's 8 hrs at work)
    • The universe is not fundamentally made of things, but of relationships
    • Christopher Alexander book, Patterns: all aspects of life should be "blended"
  • Judy:
    • Does work count as part of life?
    • Other things are more important, but you might not have any of yourself left to maintain it
  • Steve: In traditional societies, husbands and wives looked after separate sides of the balance
  • Heather and Steve: Seasons, only letting day and night be in balance two days a year, give dynamism that makes our world what it is