Each year as we prepare our annual family issue, invariably the word “balance” shows up in the title of at least one article. Balance certainly has become a popular buzzword. We’re encouraged to find balance among the multifarious obligations of modern life.
When I think of balance, I imagine the image for a “scale of justice,” with two trays hanging on each side of a lever. I remember looking at those scales in grade school, and finding it fascinating that to make the two sides hang evenly, you must place equal amounts in each tray. With both sides equally balanced, equilibrium is achieved.
Is this what is meant by finding balance in life? A sort of equilibrium where the same amounts of time and energy are given to each responsibility—career, family, friends, play, sleep, exercise, and so on? With only 24 hours to divide in a day, that would leave a mere three or four hours to dedicate to each. I don’t know about you, but I need more sleep than that.
My Mac’s dictionary widget (something that does almost get three hours of my attention a day) brought some balance to my thoughts on balance. It defines balance as “a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions” [emphasis added]. Achieving balance does not necessarily mean making all things equal, but rather finding the right proportions to make things stable.
Correct proportions are achieved by setting priorities. Finding stability and calm in life revolves around determining what is most important and then structuring our lives to give those priorities the necessary proportions of our time. In no other areas of our lives does this ring more true than in career and family.
Composer Eric Whitacre and his wife, soprano Hila Plitmann, featured in this month’s cover story (p. 24), met years ago while students at Juilliard. Plitmann’s hilarious description of her first impression of Whitacre makes how the two eventually fell in love all the more charming. Now with a son, Ash, and two busy and successful careers, they continue to search for ways to make it all work.
Baritone Stephen Powell and soprano Barbara Shirvis met while singing at New York City Opera. They knew they wanted children and, some 10 years later, they have learned a lot about juggling two careers while devotedly rearing two boys. Their deep commitment to their top priority—their role as parents and spouses—is obvious and inspiring (p. 36).
Also in this issue, we bring you two perspectives—one medical and one personal—on pregnancy and singing. First, Dr. Anthony Jahn discusses everything singers need to know about pregnancy from conception to breastfeeding (p. 18). Then, singer Julie Bishop recounts her recent firsthand experience singing and auditioning through all nine months of her pregnancy (p. 48).
My attorney husband recently explained to me that the scales of justice are not always meant to be level. In the law, greater emphasis is sometimes placed on one side of the scale than the other to find fairness and legality and to create predictability. Balance occurs with stability, rather than equality. May this be a blueprint for our own lives as we prioritize, proportion, and perform.
