Work-life balance. The topic of so many talk shows, health magazine articles, coffee shop conversations... and for good reason, as it's a daily challenge for so many of us. As someone with a demanding full-time job, two incredibly busy teen kids and husband I'd like to actually spend a little time with occasionally, I feel like finding that balance is almost a grail quest. As soon as I think I've figured out a formula that works - the perfect flow that allows me to get all my work done, get all the errands handled, make it to all the track meets, get in a run or a yoga class, and still have time to chill with Rick, read a book, watch a movie, sleep - the fates intervene, throwing a curve ball or two (or fifty) and laughing at me for thinking I have anything at all figured out.
This weekend, the school I work for hosted its 50th anniversary gala. The event was the
culmination of several months of planning, and a couple of months - as anyone in the non-profit world knows - of hurried un-planning, re-planning, and flurried last-minute non-stop madness that had me at work early and late, bringing work home, worrying about work instead of sleeping... and this all came at the same time as track season for both my middle school and high school children (read: track meets every. single. day. And they take forever. Track meets are not organized by organized people.) My work event was beautiful, Rick and I got to dress pretty (very rare occurrence for us - we usually feel dressed up if we wear new-ish jeans) and the end result for the school was a healthy amount of fundraising and reconnection with alumni and their families. Track season was fun for the kids and the end result is that they are both in great shape, Eben improved his hurdle skills and Mad continues her journey to finding the sport that is right for her - she is interested in trying field hockey when she starts high school in the fall (my little book worm athlete!). But the end result for ME is that I am now having to repair two months of sporadic workouts, a diet of coffee and Advil, completely fucked up sleep patterns, and brief check-in moments with my husband as we both fly out the door for work that don't really add up to quality time.
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| We clean up ok... |
I keep thinking "I miss my life! Summer can't come soon enough!" -- but the truth is this IS my life. It's everyone's life, sometimes. We all have those ebbs and flows of insanity and peace, and it does no good to think "I want things back to normal!" when really, this is normal.
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| 7 hours in suicide heels = true workplace devotion. Or insanity. |
The trick, as in all things, is finding a way to make do with crazy. I could try to read all the health magazine articles I can get my hands on about "Finding Balance" and "Letting Go of What Doesn't Matter" and "Following My Bliss" (that last one seems to be all over the place lately as the "key" to finding perfect balance. My take on this idea is well reflected here.) At the end of the day those articles are all just kind of bullshit. The supposition that serenity is as simple as saying "I like this, so I'll do it, and nothing will ever be hard. Tah dah! Perfect balance!" is a fairy tale... I happen to live a real life. Here on earth, the reality is that sometimes your 9 to 5 job - even if it's a job you love the way I love mine - is going to be the bully on the playground who sits on you and laughs while you try to get up. Sometimes your family - who you love more than anything and surely must love you in return - will innocently conspire to create a schedule that requires you to turn your aging Honda CR-V into a TARDIS. (Didn't you know that mothers are capable of time travel? At least we're capable of making it seem that way when we manage to be everywhere and do everything IN GORGEOUS HEELS and still function with more grace than a Time Lord at the end of the day).
So the roller coaster has leveled out for the moment and I can throw myself into two weeks of getting my running schedule back in gear so I don't have to half-walk an upcoming 5k race that I run every year. The organization that benefits from this race, The Gathering Place, means a great deal to the Cleveland community and to many friends of mine. Read more about TGP and Race for the Place here.
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| The lady in whose memory I run each year. Look at her beautiful smile... |
[Pause for fundraising plug: click here to support if you can! Local folks - you can support TGP by joining in the race - come run with me!]
I've managed to gather a huge group of parents and students from my school to run the race (or walk, or dance or jump or whatever they feel like doing...) and as team captain I don't want to be the low-energy loser who can't finish!
So off I go for a training/head clearing run. Wish me luck - in the race and in the ongoing find-the-balance grail quest. My guess is we'll cross paths on that road at some point, and maybe we can trade quest tales over a drink. I'll wear my pretty shoes.
