I say it all the time but balance, my goodness, if I didn’t believe in it I don’t think I’d stay sane. I’m happily overwhelmed by new responsibilities and challenges as the NBA season kicks off and the last two weeks have been a true test of that word. Engulfed in a world that comes at you with a knife some weeks, dodging criticism and judgement posted on the interweb, you need to learn how to shake the shitty stuff. And function on four hours of sleep. So balance is my happy place because I fill those moments with incredible people and sometimes all we talk about is that funny clip on youtube or leaving on a jet plane or that one time where we danced like crazy in the livingroom to Calvin Harris at 2am. And that is more than enough. “So what do you do?”. That question shuts me down sometimes and not because I’m not happy and blessed to be where I am. It’s just so refreshing to just be plain old you for a minute. Jobless and homeless and raw. I just dropped the line “Everybody’s got their somethin'” to the boy and he asked what my somethin’ was. I’m going to sleep on this. But Nikka Costa says it’s supposed to make you smile like an itty bitty child and that there’s a time for every star to shine. So by balance I mean staying out a little too late with the people that make you glow after kicking off your show shoes even though you have a 9am shoot. Or closing the laptop on a seven hour work-a-thon Saturday even though you’re not near complete for laughs and warmth at a dive bar in the west end. Or going to a concert with your crew after a full day of basketball even though you passed your pillow on the way out and thought, damn, I’m neglecting you my friend. That was my weekend. A perfect balance. -k