Hamburg-based author Susanne Kaloff is great at standing on one leg. Otherwise, any other type of balancing act in everyday life throws here for a loop big time.
There are days that are so crazy that it makes me dizzy. Dizziness is the first sign of overload, isn’t it? Maybe it was also because I drank two Matcha lattes that morning. Health gurus may recommend that you drink this very healthy green tea on a regular basis, but I don’t think they meant two cups on an empty stomach. Anyway, my flightiness could also be due to the fact that I followed up this caffeine shot with a mug of coffee. Putting it mildly, I went crazy.
BALANCE WAS NEVER REALLY MY THING TO
BEGIN WITH EVEN THOUGH WE ARE WARNED
ABOUT EXTREMES.
Back to the story, yesterday, pushed along by a dangerous dose of adrenaline and a deadline bearing down on me, I drove with my son to the Hamburg customs office with my tires screeching. I could write an entire book about that office, that’s how much time I spend there. Online orders from the USA that you place in the middle of the night out of boredom or insomnia should be prohibited by the health authorities.
Unfortunately, I have passed along this passion for trendy nonsense that can only be found in some hidden second-hand store to my only son. So, on this rainy afternoon we stood in front of the customs official for what felt like a week and ultimately had to pay 19 percent VAT and 12percent customs tax on a crumpled vest that looked like someone had pulled it out of the trash can. Just as I was arguing with myself about the point of all of this, I whispered quietly to myself: it can’t go on like this, you have to find balance! I don’t mean the kind of balance you need for some Yoga poses, but instead balance between work and leisure time.
THE TERM WORK-LIFE BALANCE IS OF COURSE SUPPOSED TO DESCRIBE A STATE WHERE WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE ARE IN HARMONY.
Am I the only one who fails miserably at this? And are work and life even two different things? All of this was going through my head while the industrious customs official was demanding that we pay € 86.00 with a triumphant expression. Maybe we don’t need to balance anything at all, no balancing, no optimizing and we don’t even need to wait for the grand moment when we are finally done working. Maybe we just need to remind ourselves that all of life is made up of a series of moments. One after the other. Some are amazing and some make you despair. And, we need to remember that that’s okay too: c’est la vie, chérie.
SUSANNE KALOFF
For nearly twenty years now, author Susanne Kaloff has written for a variety of magazines and newspapers (Grazia, Welt am Sonntag, Emotion, Myself, etc.) about everything that keeps her busy. She lives with her son in Hamburg, which she claims to be the most beautiful city in the world.
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There are days that are so crazy that it makes me dizzy. Dizziness is the first sign of overload, isn’t it? Maybe it was also because I drank two Matcha lattes that morning. Health gurus may recommend that you drink this very healthy green tea on a regular basis, but I don’t think they meant two cups on an empty stomach. Anyway, my flightiness could also be due to the fact that I followed up this caffeine shot with a mug of coffee. Putting it mildly, I went crazy.
Back to the story, yesterday, pushed along by a dangerous dose of adrenaline and a deadline bearing down on me, I drove with my son to the Hamburg customs office with my tires screeching. I could write an entire book about that office, that’s how much time I spend there. Online orders from the USA that you place in the middle of the night out of boredom or insomnia should be prohibited by the health authorities.
Unfortunately, I have passed along this passion for trendy nonsense that can only be found in some hidden second-hand store to my only son. So, on this rainy afternoon we stood in front of the customs official for what felt like a week and ultimately had to pay 19 percent VAT and 12percent customs tax on a crumpled vest that looked like someone had pulled it out of the trash can. Just as I was arguing with myself about the point of all of this, I whispered quietly to myself: it can’t go on like this, you have to find balance! I don’t mean the kind of balance you need for some Yoga poses, but instead balance between work and leisure time.
Am I the only one who fails miserably at this? And are work and life even two different things? All of this was going through my head while the industrious customs official was demanding that we pay € 86.00 with a triumphant expression. Maybe we don’t need to balance anything at all, no balancing, no optimizing and we don’t even need to wait for the grand moment when we are finally done working. Maybe we just need to remind ourselves that all of life is made up of a series of moments. One after the other. Some are amazing and some make you despair. And, we need to remember that that’s okay too: c’est la vie, chérie.
SUSANNE KALOFF
For nearly twenty years now, author Susanne Kaloff has written for a variety of magazines and newspapers (Grazia, Welt am Sonntag, Emotion, Myself, etc.) about everything that keeps her busy. She lives with her son in Hamburg, which she claims to be the most beautiful city in the world.
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