Last year I was in New York City and had the good fortune to join a ‘vertical’ tour of the Cathedral of St John the Divine. During the tour, the guide talked about the importance of balance and equilibrium architecturally and theologically, which really got me thinking.
Equilibrium results when mutually opposing forces meet and balance.
The tour guide at the Cathedral talked about architectural and theological balance. The former provides stability and aesthetic benefits. Without design balance, a structure wouldn’t stand for long and would undoubtedly create unease for the OCD among us who feel uneasy with the non-symmetrical.
Likewise, good and evil, God and the Devil, angels and demons all are inherent in theological equilibrium. These opposing forces are considered essential for spiritual balance.
The concept of equilibrium is shared in many other contexts. Dietary fats have been demonised over the last 40 years, with a multitude of low fat foods now available on supermarket shelves. Everyone knows salads are good for you – healthy. However without a fat source (oil in dressing, avocado, or a nice bit of feta cheese), our bodies can’t absorb the good nutrients effectively. Healthy and fatty foods thus come together as mutually opposing forces to create optimum nutrient absorption.
Everyone knows stress is bad for you; however it is often an essential ingredient to getting great results. In the workplace, stress helps to drive action so that you can achieve your goals. Similarly, exercise can be stressful on our bodies, but without this form of physical stress, our muscles would not strengthen, they would atrophy.
If creativity is one of the best things about being human, then the reality of constraints is one of the worst. Most of us don’t like constraints, but the equilibrium between creativity and constraint often brings the best results. As David Bowie sang in Modern Love (1983): “I know when to go out / Know when to stay in / Get things done.”
In its most basic form, many of us will have experienced the creativity vs constraints phenomenon when preparing a meal based only on the ingredients available in our fridge or pantry. This exact situation led to the creation of one of my favourite sandwiches – cottage cheese and beetroot.
So what?
- What are the mutually opposing forces that create balance and equilibrium for you?
- Do you respect and value opposing forces?
- Is each force present in appropriate proportion? If not, what can you do to rebalance and achieve a desirable equilibrium in your life?
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