Balance by Katherine Grealis
It’s hard to keep your balance these days. Not so much your ability to physically stand up straight, but rather to adjust emotionally to all the distractions and obstacles from technology to viruses to constantly changing social norms that tend to put our heads on overload.
Katherine Grealis, a longtime community nurse, has come in contact with many patients and families over the years from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, across all ages and life stages. She has observed their customs, beliefs and coping mechanisms, and written a book, appropriately entitled Balance, to share her observations and ideas on how to effectively recognize balance and achieve it.
BALANCING IMAGINATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The book is as much about lifetime observations as solutions. The author takes us through examples in history and some of the people who inspired and influenced her own thinking, to show how different times and places call for different strategies and courses of action.
“Human beings are richly gifted with knowledge, critical thinking skills, imagination and the capacity to dream,” Grealis writes. “But are we thoughtful and discerning in our choices in the time and value we allow technology into our lives?”
“Machines have instructions and efficiency. We have purpose and imagination. Machines cannot dream; we need to use our machines to turn our greatest dreams into reality.”
And that combination requires balance. It requires us, she writes, to balance opposing impulses and shape our conduct by finding the right principles to guide us. So before one looks unfavorably upon technology, she reminds us it was the human imagination that created it.
“Historical perspective tells us that mankind has benefited from innovations, but we need to balance this awareness with recognition and appreciation for our humanity and human needs.”
FINDING HARMONY IN EACH STAGE OF LIFE
Sometimes, a prescription for balance seems so simple: think or write about the good things in your life, take time to savor the joys of a nature walk, meal or event, and make a social connection.
Grealis walks the reader through each life stage and the nuances of choices along the way that have an impact on one’s well-being. She devotes considerable time to the pandemic, its profound effect on work/life balance, and its silver lining of forcing us to think differently and innovate beyond the standards that we formerly believed were necessary to adhere to.
Among other angles and devices, the book offers three vignettes from elders in Okinawan, Hunzan and Vilcababan societies to show a different perspective on the aging process, where a lifespan of 100 years is achieved through vitality and hopefulness – a different way of viewing age than what might be typical of the stereotypical senior citizen in America. It’s all a matter of the proper balance.
The author also calls attention to other topics that affect behavior and harmony: connectedness, spirituality, inquisitiveness, physical mobility, nutritional practice, and more.
OBSERVING LIFE AND ACCEPTING CHANGE
For a refreshing take on an important topic, readers are advised to consider this enlightening work from a keen observer of many lives through her own.
“Balance is fluid,” she writes, “always evolving through life’s different stages. It requires attention and evaluation on new situations, experiences and relationships. One has to be nimble, identifying priorities, know when to say no, accept changes and keep rebalancing.”
Good advice – perhaps easier said than done. But certainly worth exploring.
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