Comments on: Balancing Act: The Dance of an Unbalanced Life http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/ Creating Your Right Life Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:46:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Jeffrey S. Cramer http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-282307 Jeffrey S. Cramer Sun, 02 Jun 2013 00:09:19 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-282307 Thoreau was never “roughing it.” He went to Walden to write his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. He wasn’t trying in any way to have a self-sufficient wilderness adventure of solitude. He often visited with friends and family in Concord and they visited him. His mother and sisters didn’t help care for his needs, although his mother occasionally made him a pie. He brought his laundry home not to his mother or sisters but to the one of the staff who helped in their boarding house and Thoreau paid for that service. In fact he always paid his way. So, please don’t assume that he was considering it “women’s work.” He was not so minded. If you’d like to read more on Thoreau, check out the introduction to my Walden: A Fully-Annotated Edition (Yale U. Press) or The Portable Thoreau (Penguin). You may find a different Henry David Thoreau than the one you think you know.

]]> By: susan http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-281661 susan Fri, 31 May 2013 06:33:24 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-281661 I started to scream at “I don’t have a job.” Whaaat???
You have one of the hardest jobs in the world. You don’t get paid? Why does that make what you do “not a job?” The essay landed on an authentic note . . . after all. Whew! It’s balancing two full-time jobs that’s the really good trick, eh? If we think about it that way, it’s another step in the right direction, maybe?

]]> By: karen http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-281275 karen Wed, 29 May 2013 19:33:56 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-281275 Thank you Martha! I love your writing and sense of humor. I especially love the comment about Thoreau! Not surprising at all. I have many married male work colleagues that wonder what they would do if they had an extra Friday off. Many are married to someone who works one day a week. I am a single professional (work + laundry + cooking, elder care, etc), who, like Laura in your writing, have been put by outside circumstances into menopause, so…no children. Still have the day job, but am scheming, scheming to find a way to follow my passions!

]]> By: Agnieszka http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-281199 Agnieszka Wed, 29 May 2013 11:46:06 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-281199 Wow! Thank you so much!

]]> By: mary http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-257812 mary Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:23:57 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-257812 Hi Judie, I just ran across your comments and I am wondering how things are going with your daughters. Your story touched my heart as I am in a similar situaation – married a drunk, kids are alienated from me etc. I realize your comments are from a while ago; I hope that things have improved for you. Sending you positive prayers….

]]> By: Wendy Haxton http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-255514 Wendy Haxton Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:14:44 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-255514 Useful advice for the rich, but not much use to the rest of us!

]]> By: Jessica Spear http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-255426 Jessica Spear Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:20:50 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-255426 Thank you from a stay-at-home mom with two young children, who quit her career in law enforcement as a police officer because she happened to fall in love with her son the instant she held him in her arms! Later to learn he has special needs (don’t we all) and then thanked God for resigning her position just before obtaining a diagnosis for her son (perinatal stroke and cerebral palsy). Now I am trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up and very happy! :)

]]> By: Jackie http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-233672 Jackie Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:31:06 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-233672 Thank you! I’ve known that trying to chase life balance is making me implode, but it’s seemed like there’s no other option, no life boat to grab on to – even though my aching heart says there’s got to be something better. Another path! WoW! Imagine that!

]]> By: Sabrina http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-167059 Sabrina Sat, 12 May 2012 20:23:50 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-167059 Wow! So meaningful for my life right now as I give up everything I’ve ever held dear. I have four family members not speaking to me since I moved to Arizona to become the me I really am…from the inside out. NOT what everyone else wants or expects! I’m the Stephanie in this story…founded & ran a successful design firm, raised two great kids who are now in their 20s and have been living with a still “mysterious” auto immune disease that is complicated with the more stress I’m under. Go figure! I know what’s its from…trying to be superwoman, all things to all people at all times, coupled with a complete lack of self care and a vague feeling of still yet NOT ACCOMPLISHING ENOUGH!
Thank you Martha for really nailing this on the head for me!

]]> By: Barbara http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/balancing-act-the-dance-of-an-unbalanced-life/#comment-99218 Barbara Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:46:12 +0000 http://marthabeck.com/?p=4557#comment-99218 Yes, balance is an illusion–if it means having it all at the same time and still living our lives in perfect peace. Many of us have known this truth for a long time, but never had the guts to speak it out loud for fear of letting others perceive us as inadequate. Still amazes me that men are not expected to “do it all, be it all and have it all” without a supportive partner/wife.

Thanks for this Martha!

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