Clutch

This is a peek at the poster I bought myself for Christmas. I had been looking for quality juggler art since October and found this 1966 Bjorn Wiinblad print on eBay. Not my typical style but I fell in love with it for symbolic reasons, had to have it for my bedroom wall in the new house (the house we haven't started building), got it approved by my bedroom co-dweller, and can't wait to start my days right by waking up to this graphic reminder of priorities. The juggler is part of a series; the moustached man also balances bowling pins and rings but I loved the two-tone metallic balls. So Frog Prince-y.

Upside down + throbbing head + crick in the neck + simultaneous charley horses + back spasms = the price of making a deluge of balls defy gravity. I feel like this all the time. I overjuggle.

Van Gogh said, "Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well." I have a hard time believing Van Gogh actually said this. He seemed too tortured to have come up with this but if he said it so be it. Love many things, accomplish much.

LOVE MANY THINGS? Check. Accomplish much? (sound of crickets)

But I love so many things and squirrel! ooooh, I just found one more thing to love! Toss that curious new ball over here. I will figure out how to handle it because it is too fascinating and enjoyable to leave behind.

Love many things means balls galore! It means people surrounded by a blur of motion are happiest. It means more is more and less is a bore, right? Perform! Toss! Accomplish! Am I a toy poodle circus monkey creating a spectacle of balance? Did I do this to myself?

I love overjuggling but the truth is I also fantasize about living as Jane Eyre. Sew and nap in a corset all day as an unempowered, make-up free female with those weird braids that wrap around my ears? Sign me up! Eat cold ham and boiled potatoes and stare out of Mr. Rochester’s windows until something life-altering, like a carriage arriving or a fowl getting shot, happens? Yes, please. It is tempting to have a day as open as the moors and heather.

My life is frenetic but I'm not exactly sure I made it so. Yes, I threw in some fun balls for good measure but most of the balls came free with real life. There is so much to love, so much to want, and so much worth grasping alongside the normal stuff I must take care of. It is a good problem with hard logistics. Hence why I fell in love with the Danish juggler.

For all he tosses only one ball is safely secured in his right hand. There is one ball he’s not willing to fumble. And THAT ball is embodied in two of my favorite quotes, both by President Ezra Taft Benson:

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.”

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He can deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, and pour out peace."

Putting God first to find fulfillment and true happiness is a paradox I am learning to trust. Putting Him first often translates to serving my fellow men first*. I want to do so many things and Tunisian crochet, tackling that stack of good reading, sewing Archer the quiet book I pinned two years ago, and a hundred unfinished blog posts are the mere tip of the iceberg. The Lord knows this. He also knows I know better than to spend all of my time on myself.

So I clutch the golden ball, try to turn my life over to Him, and trust He will make the most of my minutes, mind, and muscles. He will also nudge me and hint what I can drop for a season or two. When I do my part I can count on the Lord to magnify whatever I have left...and the leftovers have been good enough to appease my personal wish list.

Holding one ball is the only way I can balance the others, the only way I can love many things.

"Fratelli Spassosi" by Bjorn Wiinblad, son of Otto and Ebba, Copenhagen, Denmark. b. 1918 d. 2006. A gifted ceramicist, his most famous work was the limited production of gold leaf dinner service for the Shah of Persia in 1971. Persia was celebrating its 2500th anniversary. Old country! He also designed the postage stamps for Denmark in 1985 and was the exclusive Poster Artist for the US Embassy in Paris for a year.

*Matthew 25:40