Inherent to the concept of weighing one thing against another on a balance scale is that to bring two things into balance we must subtract from one in order to add to another.
The pursuit of “balance” in life thus often feels like a zero-sum tradeoff.
Time for yourself seems to come at the expense of time for your relationships. You trade your workout for a work meeting. Work obligations usurp your hobby time.
This challenge is baked into the Libra archetype. Libra often gets shamed for indecision, which is a natural result of getting caught in an apparent binary of “this or that.”
But life is never just a binary, and the Libra archetype isn’t solely about “balance.”
A full life is best represented by a wheel with various sections: persoanal growth, self-work, relationships, community, hobbies, learning, health, and career/work, among others. To weigh any two of these against each other means we’re ignoring the others.
Read: Work/Life Balance is a Myth
Instead of Seeking Balance, Create Harmony
A core essence of Libra is to seek harmony.
I sang in choirs for many decades of my life. The magic of choir singing is in the harmonies. Unlike duets, where the singers take turns singing, choirs weave together multiple voices to create a coherent sound in which the various layers are perceptible.
You don’t need to know anything about music to appreciate a good harmony. Tight harmonies are magic.
We can apply this principle to life.
Instead of pursuing balance, think of the various aspects of your life as singers in a choir, for which you are the conductor and musical arranger.
Read: 5 Ways to Find Harmony When Your Life is Disrupted
The goal is to weave together the parts into a harmonious melody. As in any choral arrangement, sometimes certain voice parts carry the melody while the others provide the background, sometimes they sing in unison. Sometimes a voice part rests for a few beats.
Creating harmony is less about cutting out one thing for another, and more about finding the right notes and volume for each part to achieve that magical blend.
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...