“The concept of yin and yang (or earth and heaven) describes two opposing and, at the same time, complementary (completing) aspects of any one phenomenon (object or process) or comparison of any two phenomena” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang).
There is a balance of harmony in life which makes the universe run smoothly. Life and death, fantasy and reality, madness and sanity, fiction and truth, disturbance and harmony, iconoclasm and iconography, satire and tragedy, East and West. When the scales tip in favor for one side, tragedy may occur. My children can tell you the two sides of me. I am the funny, laughing, dorky mom. But when need be I am the disciplinary and “mean” mom. Without this balance as a parent, my children would either walk all over me with no respect, or hate me. In life, there is a balance of everything.
In Salman Rushdie’s book, East, West, there is a short story called “The Harmony of the Spheres.” The main character in this story, Eliot, battles between the harmony of madness and sanity. Eliot suffers from a “simple biochemical imbalance” (134), which could be diagnosed as Schizophrenia. Eliot, during one of his episodes, actually drives down the wrong side of the highway while he is blindfolded (129-130). Eliot is married to Lucy who assumes everything Eliot does as insane, and does not look deeper into them for symbolism.
The narrator of the story is Khan, is a close friend of Eliot’s. He explains events in Eliot’s life. Eliot met a demon after completing his book “The Harmony of Spheres,” a book about occultist groups. Once he met the demon, no matter where he moved, it would follow him. He even suspected his friends and neighbors of being Aliens. “One night he woke up at three a.m., convinced of the presence downstairs of something absolutely evil” (p 135). According to Eliot, his wife was a spy and she hid microphones in the butter. These demons that constantly haunted Eliot and drove him into madness, almost gained hold on Khan.
Eliot was also interested in the dark arts. He went as far as memorizing palmistry and numerology in order to learn a spell on how to fly. “Under my friend’ informal tutelage, I studied numerology and palmistry and memorized an Indian Spell for flying…” (p 138). However, he never used his knowledge to attempt anything foolish, like flying. According to Khan, “Between attacks he is perfectly normal” (130). Eliot is an intelligent and “normal” person when he’s not going through a fit of “brainstorms.” “I’m on the mend, I’ve started work again…Works fine as long as I keep off the occult stuff” (p 130).
The demons, madness and brainstorms are too much for Eliot. He decides to end his own life with a shot gun. The balance of harmony tipped too far to one side, and he could no longer rationalize life. Unfortunately today, too many lives end in such a tragic way. The find our peace within, our inner peace which “refers to a state of being mentally or spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_peace), we could balance our demons we face in life and create a more blissful way of living.
4 comments on The Balancing Act
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Wow, well put Nicole! I like the perspective as a mom too. Wish I read that before mothers day! Go moms who balance it all or at least attempt to!
to all the moms out there!
Thanks Richard! Being a mom is hard work!! Balancing school, work, and kids is even harder. I feel blessed that I have the ability and most of all, the PATIENCE to handle it all! GO MOMS!!!
Your article is intresting because you use your experience as a mom. I think that it is very hard to teach kids the balance. Sometimes, your kid see you as a evil. But, it is very important your kid to know when and why you are mad. Then, the kid will learn about balancing.
Now, I have been learning English language. When I learn new word or phrase, I always use the word anytime and anywhere. Then, I watch other people's response or reaction to figure out when and how to use that word. I think that learning things is something like that.