As April ends and May begins I learn new things and strive to create balance in my life. The intuitive collage word prompts for weeks 17 and 18 are in accordance with my own life’s timetable. We are always learning, and we always seek balance.

Sometimes we get tired and learning something new can seem overwhelming. The older we grow, the more set in our ways we can get, becoming resistant to learning and growth. At the same time, we long for the glory days of youth when we were eager to learn and experience new things. We reminisce, enjoying with pleasure all the fun we had in days past. That longing for youth is actually a search for balance.

Remaining Teachable

The secret of maintaining youth, and balance while growing older, is to remain open to learning new things. That’s what it means to be teachable. To be open and receptive. I have lots of gray hair (under the hair dye) and the wrinkles are appearing but I refuse to stop learning and laughing and taking in the wonders of the world.

For the week 17 prompt above, Freemix was still offline. So I resorted to using images and software I had from my previous work as a web content creator. I threw it together quickly just to get it done, not trying to create a masterpiece or anything special. And then I remembered that I only started learning how to use photoshop and graphic design software about 10 years ago when I was 53-54 years old. I was reinventing myself and creating a new career to carry me through to retirement. Now I do it for fun.

Balance

The past 10 years were definately the most difficult years of my life. Through multiple struggles with health, finances and loss I was constantly seeking balance. It was a turmultious and uncomfortable time, riddled with fear and pain which caused me to ask myself, “Where’s the joy?”. I found my joy, my peace, my comfort and balance in nature, family and friends, and staying creative.

Life can be messy and disjointed. It sometimes doesn’t make sense. It can be quirky and crazy and take us to the strangest places. But if we look carefully, we can make sense of it and find the balance. We can laugh and learn and create through the good times and the bad. If we stay open, teachable, and balanced the true joys of life can be revealed.