pendulum swinging . . . or, "as the world turns"

This is the time of year when invariably people will start asking each other if they have made any resolutions for the new year. I am certainly fine if people who know me really well ask me this question, because I like the opportunity to articulate my resolve in thoughts and in words in order to give the process more energy. However, I also find that this is a highly personal question, and since most people don't know me well, the question has more of a tendency to annoy me. (Resolution #1: Try not to get so annoyed with people.)

I like the idea of New Year's resolutions even though I always joke back in response to anyone who asks me about mine, "I resolve not to make any resolutions." There is some truth in that statement because in typical Stuart Smalley fashion, I am more likely to make affirmations (and most likely they are silent affirmations) throughout the year. For example, I would never make a resolution like, "I will lose 10 pounds," or "I will stop eating chocolate." To affirm is to have a present experience of mind, and to resolve, while technically meaning making a decision on something, implies a future course of thought or action.

It seems to me healthy to zoom out and think about the human experience and what goes wrong when we don't have balance. And like a pendulum swinging, we try to correct the path in the opposite direction by thinking or behaving in a manner in order to achieve balance. What pulls things out of balance? It comes down to the opposite forces: + and - . Excess/depletion. Greed/impoverishment. Sloth/exhaustion. What were those seven deadly sins again?

Years ago, a friend gave me a matted piece containing some muted green and blue water color strokes and some calligraphy. The text heading is a quote by Aldous Huxley: THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS OURS. And the subtext patterns state: "Mary has chosen the good part - only a few things are necessary, really only one." And then, "art or business - body or soul - T.V. or books - city or country - be or see."

A good life - or a good year - or a good day - or a good moment, therefore, can be about seeking balance. That may mean that the act of seeking is the push and pull of the pendulum in our minds and our actions. The pendulum is moving. That motion is life. For example, where do we put our money, if we have it? What values are we investing in? How are we living our daily lives?

So here are a few things, in no particular order, that I want to think about as I go through the next year seeking balance.

free will / destiny

exercise / rest

empathy / detachment

ground / ether

output /input

impulse /restraint

and of course

good / evil

The long of it is:

I will seek to be patient, kind, and loving, and I will remember that there are times for action, strength, and ferocity

I will try not to lose the forest to the trees - at "the office," at home, and in my coursework

I will work hard, and will try to rest once in a while

I will appreciate beauty and light and will acknowledge darkness and pain

In addition to being responsible and following through on the mundanities of life, I will remember to make time for art, music, literature, and of course, laughing

I will control my thoughts, seek self-discipline, and remember to meditate and pray

And the short of it is:

I will try not to spend so much time searching for and watching Flight of the Conchords videos on YouTube.

In the inimitable words of keyboardist Viv Savage in This is Spinal Tap, I will try to "have . . . a good time . . . ALL the time." No, wait. That wouldn't be balance. Or would it? Are most lives imperfect pendulums swinging out of balance? Or are all lives perfect pendulums in process of finding balance? Hmmm. Maybe therein lies the wabi sabi.

Photo: Foucault Pendulum at the Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California from http://www.ltwautomation.com/foucault.html