The Touchstone of Balance

If I take each Touchstone as a stepping stone, one proceeding easily to the next, Desire leads to Presence, where I finally stand still long enough to hear what stories my being craves to write.

Presence, then, gives way to Balance, where I seek a compromise between all the possibilities this moment holds.

Only when I grow still enough to listen, can I become mindful of the mixture and choose the pleasanter path.

The Seismograph Needle of Balance

For Balance, I choose an orange calcite, though my stone is more a chunk of pineapple, translucent at the edges in the sun, but with a white streak like a seismograph’s needle, tracing outliers against a norm. We can’t prevent the earthquakes that uproot our equilibrium—the perfectly-balanced life is a myth—but how we decide to Balance our energies within any given moment can be compassionate. Or decidedly not.

I ask myself this question every night when I pick up this orange calcite from my bathroom counter. And I’m curious for your own response: How have you experienced Balance today?