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A New Year!

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy new year to you all! What I hope this new year brings for all of us, but especially me, is balance. I find this is something I constantly seek, but never quite get right. A friend once told me, though, "balance is not a tension-less state." Perhaps what I seek is not the peace and calm associated with doing nothing, but the peace and calm associated with doing the things I want to/ love to do well. I, like so many of the other "go-getters" I know, want to do everything perfectly and end up failing. Perhaps, this year, I will allow myself some balance by prioritizing the things I need to do with the things I love to do- not trying to make all endeavors equal.

This year, I want to make more time for family/friends, dance, and art, as well as self- care (meditation, cooking, exercise...etc). The other things will get done. How do you want to bring balance to your life? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts and/or any suggestions.

For now, I leave you with a little poem that came to me as I was finally able to relax at the end of a grueling semester! Happy New Year, once again!

~Mellowing Out~

Oh! a tangled mess!
How long it takes to unwind,
extract limbs and thoughts from the tightly wound
knot
one by one,
a morning meeting here,
an elbow- ache there
worry to heel, ankles to care
light that candle and pour a drink-
how lovely it is not to think!
Music like ice to red-hot ears
books like balm to healing sores
defenses melt away, and I
inhabit the body once again
exhale fear, exhale anger,
exhale...
inhale mellow, inhale mellow,
inhale.



The Hyatt, San Francisco (12/28/2011)

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