Balance
Spinning Plates and Staying Grounded in Uncertain Times
Balance isn’t always about stillness, it’s often about motion. For individuals in Maryland and DC, the metaphor of spinning plates reminds us that life requires constant adjustment, resilience, and reflection. This post explores how we respond to crisis, what keeps us going, and how we find meaning in the chaos.
Do you remember seeing this act at the circus or on television where this guy has these tall sticks, and he puts a plate on the top of the stick and starts it spinning and then moves to the next stick and does the same thing. As a kid, I thought that was really wild and wanted to magically do the same thing. Of course, there is a YouTube clip of a guy on the Ed Sullivan show in 1958 doing just that. Eric Brenn got a minute and a half of national fame spinning plates on a stick. As a preteen watching that, I thought it was marvelous. My mother thought that her dishes would soon be at risk.
What has you spinning?
Some of us are spinning because of COVID. This disease seems to have taken up permanent residence. When we think we have one variant under control another one pops up to menace us again. Friends have lost their parents or children way before their time. School children have gotten sick and brought the classroom to a halt. Teens have been isolated and are shutting down emotionally as they have had no access to peers. Their ability to do the normal experimenting with various parts of their personality has been lobbed off by this disease as though a vital part of themselves is missing. As a result, we have a mental health crisis on our hands that will not be easily resolved.
While we are reacting to this, let us remember that this type of trauma is not unique or new. This country has been through emotional crises like this from its inception. This country was birthed in a Revolution and the Ken Burns’s recent special on Benjamin Franklin shows how difficult that birth was. We have suffered famine during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. We have endured internal war as the North and South sought to destroy each other. We have been wrenched apart in hundreds of unusual ways. This is not the first and this will not be the last.
What keeps you going?
We are still here plugging away, holding our own, building new things, and looking to the future. Humans are resilient. We regroup, refocus, reorganize, and recover. We find our own reasons for moving forward and trying again. June is named for the Roman goddess, Juno, a symbol of youth and protection. We are halfway through the year. You are halfway. Where are you going? What are your goals? How will you honor the thrill of spinning plates on a stick?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or seeking clarity, therapy can help you find your center. Explore individual therapy in Maryland and DC or learn more about therapeutic approaches that support resilience and balance.
By Dr. Gloria K Vanderhorst
