Coffee With David

I remember when my parents took me to my first circus. I do forget exactly how old I was, I know I was under eight, and the name of the circus troupe. What I do remember most was the high wire acts. The men and women flying across the air on their trapeze or walking the tightrope doing various arrangements of acrobatics always enthralled me. To this day those acts are still my favorites, yet it is not until as an adult looking back at them that I realize that they represent life—or at least mine anyway.

I find myself performing the high wire act of life trying to balance two careers (the one that pays the bills and the writing career), the various community groups I have my hands in, my martial arts, my social life, my family, my relationship with God, and still make “me time.” Having so many things going on at once is a way of life for me. I fly from event to event, project to project (or in my “bill paying job”: crisis to crisis) trying to catch the next trapeze and praying it is not the one I will miss. When I am not flying then I am walking the tight rope trying to maintain the balance between it all—and keep the stress of one career out of the other and the drama of any one relationship out of the others. I stumble. I miss the trapeze. I fall and hope that there is a net this time so I can get back to my life.

I know I could cut something here or there that would make more time for this and that, but honestly I cannot “be still.” I believe with all my soul that if I just sat and did nothing my head would explode. Maybe it is the “only child” syndrome of wanting to experience it all or maybe I am insane. I don’t know. All I do know is that life is as much of a high wire act that requires finding and constantly adjusting balance in order to pull it off—and keeps providing me with things to write.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for updates on the blogs, stories, and novels I am working on.