Needing Balance in 2021

Me and my dad at his pharmacy in 1978 just before I went overseas.

It’s the beginning of the year and I’ve made a commitment to myself that this is the year for more balance in my life. It’s my word for 2021 ~ balance.

What does this mean to me? It means I am not going to work on my computer on a Sunday.

My dad was a pharmacist with his own shop in bayside Melbourne. I remember him being very hardworking. He would leave for work before 8am then not get home till 6.30pm.

In my early childhood years, he used to close up shop on Saturday afternoons and have Sundays off. After church there were often excursions to visit relatives (yuk) or go to the country (yes!) where we had a picnic and sometimes boiled the billy.

Things changed when I was a teenager and his business was not as robust. He decided to work on Sunday mornings as well. I felt like he was always working and missed that time for adventuring.

The past year I have worked on my creative arts business with long hours spent in front of my computer screen. I seem to have lurched from one project to another, always staying one step ahead of deadlines. Towards the end of the year I was so tired I could hardly keep track of the things I needed to do so I had to scale back on some of the projects I had on the go.

So now I have decided to take Sundays off. To create a better balanced life.

I think we have all realised the value of good health this year. It is so easy to forget that our body needs rest, quiet, down time from screens and the daily news. Life without information constantly streaming in.

Watching the daily death count rise from a world wide pandemic is enough to make anyone a bit more thoughtful of how they spend their time and who they spend it with. The people and things they hold dear.

So now what to do with my Sundays? When I first read The Artists Way book by Julia Cameron, she talked about making regular artist dates with yourself. Time for dreaming, watching, listening and having fun.

I think my schedule will include a little Sunday adventure. I’m not sure what the first one will be today but I’ll think of something and let you know…

My New Year’s resolution - turn off the screens on Sunday.