From a recent conversation with @hichaweon about the imperative to achieve "spiritual balance". It's a concept that could use some critical thought, if only because it's something that gets treated as a truism and trotted out without much thought. 1.

It's an ideal that can generate a good deal of anxiety, trapping us in that loop of continual self-monitoring.
I've not much time for it because for so much of my life, I've had it thrown at me that I am "imbalanced". 2.

Imbalanced due to being left-handed; because of mental health issues; taking drugs; being queer; being too outrageous; even writing about the wrong kind of subjects; and many many times because some self-proclaimed authority thought I was doing the "wrong kind" of magical work. 3

When I hear people talking about the necessity for "balance" it reminds me of a call to homeostasis, a return to a start-point or ground zero. That's not what I want in my life. 4.

Moments of rest, certainly, but even at rest there is a potential giddiness, a sense something is waiting to unfold at any moment. 5.