Does your life sometimes make you feel like you’re a circus performer?

You know, the kind who walks the high-wire (where’s the net?) while simultaneously juggling delicate crystal goblets, flaming fire-sticks and your best china?

I know mine does!

Sometimes our life seems a hair-breadth from total catastrophe. But somehow, we keep going. The balancing act never ends, the show is on an eternally playing loop.

It seems to be a common feeling… life is so busy, so demanding and so always on.

This month, over at The Calm Space, the contributors share their personal takes on the issue of balance and that high-wire act. Whilst all the writers share their own perspective and speciality on the whole balance issue, there seems to be a common thread through all the articles.

Balance is an inside job. We wont find ‘the solution’ out there somewhere. There is no magical net waiting to catch us when we lean too far off kilter… it’s up to you to find your own equilibrium.

THE CALM SPACE IS GROWING!

The Calm Space has a new contributor, writing for The Sustainability Space, Marc Lehmann. Marc is a naturalist and a minimalist with a passion for sustainability and his first article really made me stop and think.

We also welcome the beautiful photography of Amy Palko to The Breathing Space. Amy chose this amazing image for us this month because, in her own words,

“I’ve spent quite a lot of time thinking about balance and what it means to me, and also where I find it. For me, I find it when I’m out on a walk, away from the demands of housework, writing deadlines and technological distraction. So, to that end, I’ve chosen a photograph that I took on one of my walks.”

Don’t forget to download to your desktop the very special wallpaper for the month of May, created from Amy’s photo by Leah Maclean. It truly is an oasis of calm!

OK, that’s enough from me - why not pop on over and check out The Calm Space May edition for yourself?

Marc and Amy join contributors Joanna Young, Leah Maclean, Chris Owen, Angela Esnouf, Annie Hutton, Marjorie Lim (and yours truly: ). We all write for The Calm Space, an online magazine that’s like a virtual day-spa for your senses…

Three years ago, I started a journey. I took my first steps full of trepidation, wondering how they would be received.

Slowly I grew in confidence while all the time searching for the right thing to say.

I knew, right from the start, that I was meant to do this. It was in my blood - that calling - like some ancient knowing.

At times, I came close to addiction - unable to simply walk away. There was always just. one. more.

Then life would interrupt, or I’d feel insecure and inadequate. Or I’d simply change my mind, and move in an entirely different direction.

But I kept finding a path. At times well trodden, where others had gone before. Other times, I needed a machete to slash away the undergrowth and forge my own path ahead.

And those times I struggled to find the path often led to beautiful vistas, found unexpectedly as I crest a rise, or round a corner.

Friends have helped me, held me up when I couldn’t do it alone, forever encouraging me on my journey.

Some have made sarcastic or dismissive comments about this journey of mine. They just make me stronger and more determined.

I am a very different person today to the one I was three years ago. My growth and my learning on this journey have been incredible.

I have made sacrifices, but hold no regrets.

I will stay on this path I have chosen, wandering the trails and hidden lanes, the open paddocks and the mossy streams. And I reserve the right at all times to change my path - to decide a detour has become the route. To change direction and to move with the seasons and the ebb and flow of life.

I’d love to have your company on my journey - for a moment or a lifetime, or any space in between. I know we’ll have fun.

Today is the third anniversary of The Clearing Space blog. Thank you thank you thank you.