Words of Wikstrom, Oct 2011
Back in my somewhat serious juggling days, a friend of mine and I were trying to learn to pass seven balls between us. That is right – two people, four hands, seven balls. We were finding it as hard as it sounds.
Passing six balls is really not all that difficult. If you can imagine the figure eight pattern that a juggler makes when she is juggling three balls in front of herself, passing six just means that all of your right-hand throws go across to your partner rather than to your own left hand. If you visualize it, you are just taking one arc of your pattern and rotating it 90°, perpendicular to the path in front of you. Not too hard really. Each of you is still, essentially, juggling three balls; you are just doing it together.
Seven balls, however, is a completely different kettle of fish. There is an extra ball in the pattern, so that all of the throws have to be about a beat-and-a-half faster than before. The entire rhythm changes, and my friend and I were having a really hard time keeping up. All of the balls were moving so much faster than we had been used to. There was so much to think about. It was hard to keep it together.
And then it happened. I cannot really describe what “it” was except to say that we both suddenly found the rhythm. We felt it in our bodies and heard it in our minds. The balls were not flying any less quickly, but it was as if everything had slowed down. Suddenly it felt as if we had all the time in the world, when before it felt as if we were just a split second from having everything come crashing down on us.
Ever felt like that? Ever felt like that one more thing had gotten tossed into your well worked pattern and now you were perpetually on the edge of dropping everything? My prayer is that you – we – all find the new rhythm that is just waiting to be discovered. My prayer is for our peace.
Pax et bonum,
Rev. Erik