The Sun and the Moon: Seeking Life Balance

In the past week, I have been spending a lot of time focusing on learning some new programming languages. I found some good introductory (and free) courses at Codecademy. Despite the fact I spend much of my time working on artistic endeavors, there is part of me that really enjoys the bits and bytes of programming. In fact, as I write this post I am finding myself adding href's and img src's.

I like to code my posts by hand instead of letting Blogger or some other service do the work for me. Part of that is because I like having more control over the presentation. The other part is I just enjoy coding.

But as I have spent more and more time doing learning Python, PHP and digging deeper into CSS, I am finding I really miss the creative side of doing illustrations and writing.

I often find myself out of balance. In fact, I am finding that one of my best measuring tools for how well I am doing emotionally is by seeing how balanced my life is. I think one of my best strategies for self-care for my emotional state is by keeping my life in balance. That isn't as easy as I would have thought.

It is really easy to get caught up in cramming in as much programming as I can, so I can get my website (not this one which i use exclusively for writing out my thoughts) presentable. I want to do some different things which is going to require me being more adept with my programming.

I like to refer to yin and yang.

Yin (literally, dark) is the feminine, earthy, energy associated with water, night-time, and the moon. It is characterized as being low, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive. It is the negative energy.

Yang (literally, bright) is the masculine, strong, active energy. It is associated with fire, sky, the sun, and daytime. It is characterized as being fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive.

The relationship between yin and yang is often described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain and a valley. Yin is the dark area occluded by the mountain's bulk, while yang (literally the 'sunny place' or 'south slope') is the brightly lit portion. As the sun moves across the sky, yin and yang gradually trade places with each other, revealing what was obscured and obscuring what was revealed.



In our modern, Western culture, we emphasize and celebrate the masculine energy. Some would go so far as doing away with negative energy associated with yin. But as the balance is directly impacted by the presence of the moon, we also need counterbalances in order to maintain our health.

It is when I lose track by getting stuck in seeking for power and strength that I find my emotions begin to descend into the valley of despair. It isn't that I need to do away with active, always going energy of yang. Rather, I need to find and maintain balance between the two elements.

That seems to be the challenge of my life. As the popular artist Thomas Kinkaide says, "Balance... is the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways of serving others by using them."

I feel like making the pledge that to that end, I seek to devote my life. Finding balance and empowering others to do the same. To celebrate the whole of ourselves.

Celebrate the Whole You

I frequently get the comment that it is really unusual to find someone who has the skills of both an accountant and an artist. The two are pretty distinct from one another. Once you look beneath the surface, though, you'd find that there are actually quite a few similarities between accounting and art. They both require adherence to certain principles. There is some rigidity in staying within certain guidelines. They also require rigor. You can't get familiar with all the accounting principles without staying current with what is happening in the field. Nor can you retain your artistic sensibilities without working at it regularly.

That said there are some distinct differences. Visual arts—which is my area of specialty—is, needless to say, visual. There is a lot of attention on color, shape, texture, balance and other elements that make an attractive image. Accounting doesn't concern itself much with the visual aspects of a presentation. The focus is on whether or not the numbers balance and can both support and be supported by the business facts.

I like to tell people I'm a creative accountant. Even when I was working in the field, I much preferred creating spreadsheet and database models. I enjoyed figuring out creative solutions to getting a model to work. Of course, I didn't have the freedom to be creative with accounting principles. You only have to look to businesses like Enron to see where that leads.

Once I left accounting and the analytical skills that required, I thought I would put those things away for good. After all, my heart was drawn to the arts. When I find myself doing an illustration or graphic design or photography I get into the zone. That state of flow where your mind clears and time stands still. It's a blissful feeling.

The sorrows and struggles of corporate life fade away. During my time in the corporate world, I spent very little time pursuing my artistic interests. To be honest, I didn't really know how strong my artistic drive was. I had to get away from the day-to-day in order to experience what it was like to be immersed in work that nourished me the way that art does.

On the other hand, after I had been out of the corporate world for about a year, I found myself missing the structure of accounting. It can be challenging to create all the time. I know when I open up my writing document to write something new or when I pull out my drawing pad I very often have some anxiety about whether or not I will be able to pull it off filling up the blank space.

In accounting and mathematics there is a certain way to do things. There are established procedures that have been developed over time that are generally accepted. In fact, in accounting there are the generally accepted accounting principles. The nice thing is that there is a way to do it.

In art there are certain principles to follow in order to get an attractive image but a lot of the practice is left to the artist to create. That is why you get Picasso and Monet and Da Vinci, etc. In accounting the formats are very similar. A balance sheet at one company will look a lot like at a company across the company and in a different industry. There will be differences in content but the structure is going to be very similar.

I eventually got tired and bored with the same old routine. After being away from it for a while, though, I realized there was something comforting about being confident I could find the right answer.

In art there is a lot of subjectivity. You can be really skilled in art but if the market doesn't appreciate it, it can be challenging to establish a business. Often, there isn't a right answer in art. It is much more ephemeral, or transitory. What was right yesterday no longer is.

I am not saying that one way is better than another. It isn't better to be an accountant than an artist. Nor is it better to be an artist than an accountant. I have found that I need some balance. I need the freedom of expression that art provides, but I also need the structure of something like accounting. In fact, as I apply structures to my creative efforts I am finding I am much more productive and efficient. (The watchwords of business.)