Goddess of the Week: Nu Kua

What does woman want?  Perhaps Freud didn't know, but it seems pretty clear to me.  She wants balance.  She wants meaningful work, a happy family, a good social life and a satisfying relationship with her significant other.  She wants time for exercise and a healthy diet, down time, free time, me time, sleep time, oh, and also an appointment with a good hairdresser.  

Is that really too much to ask?

If you are seeking balance in your life, then the goddess for you is the Chinese goddess Nu Kua.  When the monster Gong Gong flooded the world and threw everything into chaos, Nu Kua set everything right.  She re-created the balanced order of sky and sea, mountain and valley, life and death, yin and yang.  And guess what?  Just when she got it cleaned up, some other stupid monster caused an avalanche and an earthquake.  What did Nu Kua do?  She CLEANED IT UP AGAIN!  She's still cleaning up.  

Believe me, balance is no easy task.  If balance was easy there would not be an Olympic sport dedicated to that skinny little beam gymnasts cartwheel on.  Finding balance is hard, hard work.  Keeping balance is even harder.  It's like a mother trying to keep her living room clean.  Forget about it.  One minute it's straightened and the next it's been claimed by small plastic animals with bobble heads and big eyes.  Or as Nu Kua would say, it's like keeping the planet neat and tidy.  One minute everyone's happy and the next minute you're cleaning up after a flood.

The truth is, the truth that Nu Kua and her endless battle with chaos suggests, is that life is like your living room.  You can only keep it organized for small amounts of time.  Then monsters and children turn it asunder.  If you try to keep it clean, if you try to keep things in balance, you will fail.  The best you can do is relish in the chaos.  Join its flow.  Don't dwell on when things were nice and neat.  Don't aspire to the day they'll be tidy once again.  Relish in the chaos.  Relish in its mess.  Life is messy.  Chaos means you're alive.

Channel this goddess: when your life feels out of balance; when there is too much you want to do and you don't know how to do it all; when you feel like you're being pulled in a thousand directions.  

Susan: this one's for you.