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Life’s A Balancing Act

Orig­i­nal Art­work by Stacey from Createabalance.com
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“Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

Today, it is my plea­sure to share with you an inter­view with one of our reg­u­lar read­ers here at the Jun­gle of Life — Stacey from Cre­ate A Bal­ance.  Stacey writes a well thought out and mean­ing­ful blog about achiev­ing bal­ance in our lives.  In it, she really digs into what this means — find­ing the bal­ance that can some­times be so elu­sive, and let­ting our true pas­sions shine in the process.  Her words are spo­ken from the heart, and she has a real abil­ity to con­nect deeply with her readers.

Please help me in wel­com­ing Stacey here today!

With that, let’s get right into the questions.

1. Tell us, Stacey, a bit about who “you” are (fam­ily, career, any spe­cial life expe­ri­ences you’d like to share, etc).

Here are the basics…

* I am a mom, wife, daugh­ter, and sis­ter.
* I have two boys under the age of 5 and I’m madly in love with them.
* I work vir­tu­ally (from home) full­time as a change man­age­ment con­sul­tant..
* I live in Chicagoland. I was born in Detroit, Michi­gan and grew up in the Detroit sub­urbs. I visit fam­ily in Michi­gan often.
* I have a Mas­ters degree in Human Development/Training and Development.

2. When did you start blog­ging, and what led you to this deci­sion to write?

I started blog­ging in Feb­ru­ary 2008. For years I have wanted to share my pas­sion for life bal­ance with the world but I didn’t have a venue. My Ah-Ha moment hap­pened when I was read­ing A New Earth (Tolle). My inner voice started shout­ing “cre­ate a blog”. I don’t know why (and I’m excited to see how it will unfold) but for years I have had the belief that it is my life call­ing to help peo­ple think about and prac­tice the art of life bal­ance. I feel so alive when I write about life balance.

3. Bal­ance is a theme on your blog.  Can you describe what bal­ance means to you.

What bal­ance means to me…

To begin with, I believe life bal­ance means dif­fer­ent things to dif­fer­ent people.

To me, life bal­ance is about bal­anc­ing the demands of being every­thing to every­one while not los­ing my sense of self, my needs, and my pas­sions in the process. Life bal­ance means bal­anc­ing the needs of my inner authen­tic self and the needs of all of the other things that demand my time, atten­tion, energy.

4. How do you find bal­ance in your life?

There is a short ver­sion and a long ver­sion to this answer.

My short answer is that I stay aware of my sense of self, my needs, and my pas­sions. I work hard to incor­po­rate my needs and pas­sions into my life. Needs and pas­sion can change over­time, so I work on assess­ing my needs and pas­sions on a reg­u­lar basis.

I’m cur­rently prac­tic­ing the art of life bal­ance by…..

* Being involved with Weight Watch­ers and exer­cis­ing to focus on my phys­i­cal well being.
* Tak­ing a writing/art class to stim­u­late my cre­ative energy.
* Pay­ing some­one to clean my house once a week to help me stay orga­nized.
* Wak­ing up early (before my chil­dren are awake) to embrace my cre­ative prac­tice (writ­ing, blog­ging, painting).

Here’s my long ver­sion to your question…

After years of liv­ing and breath­ing my pas­sion for life bal­ance, I have finally devel­oped a life bal­ance process/framework that works. Here is a quick summary…

1.    I spend a lot of time dis­cov­er­ing my authen­tic needs and pas­sions.
2.    I write down my inten­tions and look at them often..
3.    I find some way to hold myself account­able. This is tricky. Right now I hold myself account­able by par­tic­i­pat­ing in group activ­i­ties (Weight Watch­ers, my Art Class, etc). I’m work­ing on devel­op­ing an online tool to help myself and oth­ers to be more account­able to their needs, pas­sions, and dreams.
4.    I prac­tice being self­ish. In other words, I self nur­ture and self nour­ish. I truly believe that to pro­vide great value to the world I need to take care of myself first. It’s the airplane/oxygen metaphor that I recently blogged about…you must first put on your own oxy­gen mask before help­ing oth­ers.
5.    I force myself to take action. Your blog helps me be bold and dar­ing, which is a cat­a­lyst for tak­ing action.
6.    I cel­e­brate my life and all of my baby steps. Life can be hard some­times but there is a lot to cel­e­brate if you can find time for grat­i­tude.
7.    I share my life bal­ance sto­ries with the world using my blog. I also talk about the impor­tance of life bal­ance with any­one who is will­ing to lis­ten. I believe what you focus on expands (the secret). And the more I focus on life bal­ance, the more I am prac­tic­ing the art of life bal­ance.
8.    I reflect and assess my actions to deter­mine if I am off bal­ance in any areas of my life.

And then the cycle or the jour­ney con­tin­ues (back to #1).

One thing I know for sure is that life bal­ance is a process/journey, not a destination.

5. I find your blog to be very moti­va­tional, and one that really makes me think.  What do you see as the pur­pose of your blog?

The pur­pose of CreateaBalance.com is to help peo­ple think about and prac­tice the art of life bal­ance. It’s about help­ing peo­ple find and embrace Ah-Ha moments that make them believe that their sense of self, their needs, and their pas­sions are pre­cious and important.

CreateaBalance.com is ded­i­cated to help­ing peo­ple bal­ance the demands of being every­thing to every­one while not los­ing their sense of self, their needs, and their pas­sions in the process.

I hope CreateaBalance.com read­ers learn more about what they need to embrace their life bal­ance desires.

6. If you had to pick one thing as your great­est achieve­ment, what would it be (and why)?

My chil­dren are my great­est achieve­ment. My sec­ond great­est achieve­ment is keep­ing hold of my authen­tic sense of self while rais­ing my children.

7. Where do you look for inspi­ra­tion and motivation?

I find great inspi­ra­tion and moti­va­tion from the incred­i­ble, remark­able, extra­or­di­nary mem­bers of the CreateaBalance.com com­mu­nity. I am refer­ring to the indi­vid­u­als that com­ment on my blog. They inspire me to think about life with a new per­spec­tive and chal­lenge me to live out­side my com­fort zone to achieve my dreams. I am also inspired by the larger per­sonal devel­op­ment blog­ging community.

Out­side of the blog­ging world, my great­est inspi­ra­tion and men­tor is Susan Kennedy (aka SARK). SARK has inspired me to share my words, sto­ries, and art­work with the world. She inspires me to be bold and dar­ing and to push past the fear that comes along with shar­ing words and art with the world. She has also inspired me to develop a writ­ing prac­tice and to cel­e­brate my authen­tic voice.

8. Tell me one unex­pected thing that has hap­pened because of your blog.

When I started blog­ging, I was focus­ing on how I would share my words and sto­ries with the world. Unex­pect­edly, I have found a niche (per­sonal devel­op­ment), and a com­mu­nity (the per­sonal devel­op­ment blog­ging com­mu­nity). I have fallen in love with this per­sonal devel­op­ment blog­ging com­mu­nity. Being part of this com­mu­nity is a great exam­ple of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. This online com­mu­nity wel­comed me with open arms and sup­ports me in my dream of build­ing CreateaBalance.com. It would be great to be able to have face-to-face con­ver­sa­tions with mem­bers of this blog­ging com­mu­nity. I love blog­ging because we get to skip the small talk and jump right into hav­ing per­sonal and soul­ful conversations.

The other unex­pected thing that has hap­pened since I started blog­ging is a sig­nif­i­cant increase in my cre­ative energy. Cre­ative ideas are fly­ing out of my head faster than I can grab them. It’s very lib­er­at­ing to feel my cre­ative juices flow­ing again.

9. Art, specif­i­cally paint­ing, holds spe­cial mean­ing for you.  Could you talk about that, and how it plays in with your bal­ance theme?
I know it is a cliché, but a pic­ture (or a paint­ing) does speak a thou­sand words. On my jour­ney of shar­ing my authen­tic voice with the world, I’m also exper­i­ment­ing in express­ing my authen­tic voice through art. I have been draw­ing, paint­ing, and sculpt­ing lately and I find it very excit­ing to find new ways to express my authen­tic voice. I’m work­ing on express­ing parts of my cre­ate a bal­ance frame­work through art.

Note: The pic­ture above is an orig­i­nal paint­ing Stacey has gra­ciously shared here with us.  I think that’s a great exam­ple of being both dar­ing and bold Stacey!  And it’s a pic­ture that shines light into this world!

10. One last thought Stacey:  What part­ing infor­ma­tion would you like to leave with the read­ers here at The Jun­gle of life?
I’d like to invite the read­ers of The Jun­gle of Life to par­tic­i­pate in my Life Bal­ance Group Writ­ing Project. The inten­tion for this project is to get more and more peo­ple think­ing about what life bal­ance means to them. As a result of this project, I will be com­pil­ing an eBook filled with what today’s Per­sonal Devel­op­ment blog­gers have to say about life bal­ance. This eBook will be an inspir­ing resource for peo­ple who need help tak­ing steps in the right direc­tion towards prac­tic­ing the art of life balance.

Lance’s Com­ments: Stacey, thank you for shar­ing a bit of “you” with us here today!  Bal­ance is some­thing that can, at times, be dif­fi­cult to achieve.  You are shar­ing an impor­tant topic with many peo­ple through­out the world.  I espe­cially enjoyed your descrip­tion of the process you use to achieve bal­ance — real exam­ples of what works for you.  Even if that’s not right for every­one (we’re all dif­fer­ent) — it gives us all a frame­work for what can work.

And, I would also like to encour­age our read­ers here to con­sider join­ing in Stacey’s Life Bal­ance Group Writ­ing project.  This is your oppor­tu­nity to join forces and spread a mes­sage of bal­ance and what that means to you.

Stacey, it has been a real plea­sure to get to know you bet­ter here today!  You are a true ray of light in our world, and I con­sider myself priv­i­leged to know you.  Here’s to many suc­cesses for you as your life con­tin­ues to unfold in new and excit­ing ways!

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum
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Comments

  1. Stacey / Create a Balance says:
    October 13, 2008 at 10:32 am

    Thank you Lance for spot­light­ing Cre­ate­a­Bal­ance on your blog today. I truly believe life bal­ance means dif­fer­ent things to dif­fer­ent peo­ple. There is no right answer or right path. Life bal­ance is a process and a jour­ney. I wel­come every­one to embrace the prac­tice of life bal­ance, to enjoy the adven­ture, and to embrace their sense of sense, their needs, and their pas­sions in the process.

    Stacey / Cre­ate a Bal­ances last blog post..How To Embrace a Money Recess

    Reply
  2. Tammy Warren says:
    October 13, 2008 at 10:42 am

    Thank you so much for shar­ing this with us today. What a per­son, this Stacey. I am look­ing for­ward to read­ing her blog. I have con­nected with her already and I have even been to her site.

    I love the fact that she men­tioned find­ing “cre­ative energy” in blog­ging. I feel that many of us are expe­ri­enc­ing this right now. We are writ­ing, express­ing, and for me…“finally” feel­ing the energy for life again. I also enjoyed hear­ing her speak of “being self­ish.” This is some­thing new to me but I am sure going to give it a try. I have touched on it a lit­tle here and there but I always revert back to over giv­ing. This was a big “wow” one for me.

    Well, I will not break it down piece by piece but I have to thank you again for sharing.

    Tammy War­rens last blog post..My Atten­tive Heart…do you have one?

    Reply
  3. m says:
    October 13, 2008 at 11:35 am

    Thanks Stacey for shar­ing! A fan­tas­tic jour­ney that you are on no doubt! Great inter­view Lance!

    ms last blog post..The Ben­e­fits of Breastfeeding

    Reply
  4. Writer Dad says:
    October 13, 2008 at 11:51 am

    Hi Stacey. It’s nice to see you here. I loved your airplane/oxygen anal­ogy, and even nicked it for myself the other day. I would’ve given you credit, but I don’t think the lady on my porch could even pro­nounce the word blog.

    Writer Dads last blog post..Pan­cake Wednesday

    Reply
  5. Vered - MomGrind says:
    October 13, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    Thank you for this inter­view. It’s really good to get to know Stacey better.

    Reply
  6. Annette says:
    October 13, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    great inter­view with Stacey!!! Love her blog and now I feel like I know her a lot bet­ter. I think the secret of life is Balance.….……so she has really hit it on the head with her awe­some blog!

    Annettes last blog post..The Lit­tle Things…

    Reply
  7. Dave Jones, CPA says:
    October 13, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    Thanks to both of you for doing the inter­view, I really enjoyed it. I do enjoy read­ing Cre­ate a Bal­ance and I am going to par­tic­i­pate in Stacey’s writ­ing project.

    Dave Jones, CPAs last blog post..Three Things I am Thank­ful For!

    Reply
  8. Marelisa says:
    October 13, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Hi Lance, Hi Stacey: I think it’s great to help peo­ple find their Aha moments. I also love SARK :-)

    Marelisas last blog post..14 Tips to Stay Young

    Reply
  9. MizFit says:
    October 13, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    THANKS FOR THIS.

    I love the Behind the Blog­ger posts, Lance and was already a Stacey fan but now kn ow I knew so lit­tle about her.

    Miz­Fits last blog post..Mon­day Face­time: The Other Side of the PINK Couch.

    Reply
  10. Stacey / Create a Balance says:
    October 13, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    Hmmmm.…I think I like being the cen­ter of atten­tion. I can get used to this! Thank you all for your kind words and sup­port­ive com­ments. You have impacted my life more than you will ever know.

    Stacey / Cre­ate a Bal­ances last blog post..My First Blo­gos­phere Interview

    Reply
  11. Cath Lawson says:
    October 13, 2008 at 5:40 pm

    Hi Lance — what a bril­liant inter­view. I love Stacey’s blog and it’s great to learn more about her. Now — that is really weird. Mare also men­tioned Sark a few days ago and now Stacey is also say­ing how great she is. I take that as a sign that I should be learn­ing more about her.

    Cath Law­sons last blog post..Be A Busi­ness Suc­cess Story, No Mat­ter What Your Age

    Reply
  12. RooBabs says:
    October 13, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    Thanks for shar­ing that inter­view Lance. I will def­i­nitely head over and check out Stacey’s blog. If it’s even half as inspir­ing and thought-provoking as yours, I need it in my life (plus I’m drawn to this idea of bal­ance of which she seems to be an expert).

    RooB­a­bss last blog post..Does This Pic­ture Make Me Look Cold? Ran­dom Photo of the Week

    Reply
  13. Laurie says:
    October 13, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    Great inter­view. Life Bal­ance? I think more of the rhythems of life. There are times in life where things get pushed to the back because of the sea­son that you are in. So it doesn’t look too bal­anced but the over­all rhythem is there. For exam­ple, if you had a sick child, your life will focus on the child. Other things that you do fall to the back burner. This is the sea­son to care for your child. If you are newly mar­ried, this is the sea­son to develop strong bonds and inti­macy to build a life long mar­riage on. So I pre­fer to look at the rhythems of life. I think some peo­ple can think they are out of bal­ance when a sea­son changes in their life.

    Reply
  14. Laurie says:
    October 13, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    OK I can’t spell rhythms. But I got bal­ance cor­rect so give me some credit there!!

    Reply
  15. Kelly@SHE-POWER says:
    October 13, 2008 at 7:54 pm

    Great inter­view Lance, and Stacey it’s excit­ing to get to know more about you. I love how you use the metaphor of the airplane/oxygen mask to describe the value of us being ‘self­ish’ when we are also moth­ers, wives, work­ers etc.

    You say, one of your great­est achieve­ments is “keep­ing hold of my authen­tic sense of self while rais­ing my chil­dren” and I agree this is a HUGE achieve­ment and one I have recently iden­ti­fied as my most impor­tant area to work on in order for greater bal­ance and con­tent­ment, so how do you do it? Tell me! Please write a post on this and I think you’ll be help­ing many many other women out there.

    Kelly :)

    Kelly@SHE-POWERs last blog post..SHE-POWER Fic­tion: A Taste of Eve

    Reply
  16. Lance says:
    October 13, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    @Stacey/Create A Bal­ance — This was so much fun Stacey, so thank you for play­ing along! Life bal­ance is dif­fer­ent for all of us, and yet — there is so much knowl­edge you share on how we can find that in our lives. I look for­ward to what new and excit­ing things you’ll be shar­ing in the future! Thanks for shar­ing your story with us all!

    @Tammy — This Stacey is an amaz­ing per­son! And yes, there is much cre­ative energy in blog­ging, isn’t there! And that’s what makes it such a great release! Con­tinue to see what Stacey has over at her site, it’s always great stuff!

    @Mark — Glad you enjoyed it! It was much fun to do, and a great way to learn about another great blog­ger out there!

    @Writer Dad — Those new-fangled words…

    @Vered — It is really good, yes! Glad you enjoyed it…

    @Annette — She’s onto some­thing here, isn’t she!

    @Dave — Thanks Dave, it was lots of fun and a great expe­ri­ence all around!

    @Marelisa — Hi! Those “aha” moments — yes, find­ing them — a great thing. Stacey, she had a skill for this…SARK…hmmm…I’ve heard about her a cou­ple of times now…maybe I should check her stuff out…

    @MizFit — Your wel­come. And…thank you…your “ques­tion­ing” of me last month…was what led to this…you never know what impact you might have on others…

    @Cath — Thank you! She DOES have a great blog!! SARK — you and me both!

    @RooBabs — Yes, go check her out — you won’t be dis­ap­pointed! And, thank you for your kind words…it means alot to me!

    @Laurie — Yes, I think we do have rhythms (hey, you got it right the sec­ond time!) in our lives — and this leads to a change in what our pri­or­i­ties are (or should be). We have to lis­ten for those rhythms, and be open to bal­anc­ing them out with all the other “things” in life that pull at us. Thanks for shar­ing that thought Laurie…

    @Kelly — Yes, please do tell Stacey (hold­ing on to your authen­tic self) — and I think you’ll be help­ing not only women out there, but maybe even a few men also! What do you think Kelly, is it pos­si­ble for men to learn any­thing here!?!?!?!? Or are we just too far gone (my wife thinks so sometimes!)???

    Reply
  17. chris says:
    October 13, 2008 at 9:02 pm

    I’m already a Stacey fan… :)

    chriss last blog post..My Back

    Reply
  18. Jamie Simmerman says:
    October 13, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    Nur­tur­ing self is some­thing I recently began doing. It still feels a lit­tle self indul­gent and unnec­es­sary, but it def­i­nitely has ben­e­fits. wak­ing before the urchins is also a neces­sity in my house. Most work gets done before 7 AM around here, and fin­ished up around noon when the baby goes down for the count for an hour. :)

    Thanks for shar­ing. I’m off to check out your blog!

    Jamie Sim­mer­mans last blog post..For Sale: Ran Great Yesterday

    Reply
  19. Evelyn Lim says:
    October 13, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    Thank you for doing this inter­view. It is nice get­ting to know Stacey bet­ter through the inter­view answers. I par­tic­u­larly share the same thoughts about find­ing our authen­tic voice through art. I would like to think that we (includ­ing your­self, Lance) are very much on the same jour­ney, to liv­ing a life of pas­sion, com­mit­ment and inspiration!

    Eve­lyn Lims last blog post..Can The Artist See The Big Picture?

    Reply
  20. meleah rebeccah says:
    October 13, 2008 at 10:59 pm

    Thank Lance! That was a TERRIFIC interview.

    I am totally inter­ested in read­ing her blog …I strug­gle a lot with find­ing any bal­ance in my life with all of the respon­si­bilites and med­ical issues…any USEFUL advice is well received by me!

    meleah rebec­c­ahs last blog post..I Be Sick Again

    Reply
  21. Davina says:
    October 13, 2008 at 11:54 pm

    Hi Lance… and Stacy. Thanks for shar­ing this inter­view. I have been enjoy­ing Stacey’s blog for a few weeks now. And, great art­work; Stacey, you have a real talent!

    Davinas last blog post..Thanks, It Means The World To Me

    Reply
  22. Maya says:
    October 14, 2008 at 1:47 am

    Lance,
    Thank you for doing this!
    And the paint­ing .…makes the post so much more special!!

    Mayas last blog post..The key to hap­pi­ness and bal­ance is right with you, just learn to use it — Part 2 of the thinkmaya framework

    Reply
  23. Lance says:
    October 14, 2008 at 6:54 am

    @Chris — Me too!!!!!!

    @Jamie — I think you’ll enjoy Stacey’s writ­ing very much! Self-nurturing can seem like we’re spend­ing too much time on our­selves some­times — and Stacey’s oxy­gen mask is a great exam­ple — we have to take care of our­selves first if we’re going to be able to take care of the other impor­tant people/things in our lives…

    @Evelyn — Your wel­come! Stacey is a breath of fresh air! I hope I’m liv­ing a life of pas­sion and inspi­ra­tion — it’s a jour­ney… You embody this these prin­ci­ples, Evelyn.

    @Meleah — You’ll find much inspi­ra­tion from read­ing about Stacey’s jour­ney to dis­cov­er­ing what life bal­ance means! She speaks with a voice of com­fort in a world filled with unbalance…

    @Davina — Con­tinue to enjoy the great writ­ing style Stacey has to offer Davina! And I agree, Stacey’s art­work is awesome!!

    @Maya — Your wel­come! The paint­ing — it was the icing on the cake!!

    Reply
  24. Liara Covert says:
    October 14, 2008 at 7:25 am

    It is a beau­ti­ful thing to inter­act, encour­age and exchange mean­ing­ful lessons. Thank you for offer­ing insight into the life of this fun-loving per­son. We can each choose to learn from each other.

    Liara Coverts last blog post..You are never upset for rea­sons you assume

    Reply
  25. Hip Mom's Guide says:
    October 14, 2008 at 8:18 am

    I’ve been read­ing Stacey’s blog for awhile now, and I’m always amazed by how cen­tered she seems. Her abil­ity to keep “bal­ance” at the fore­front inspires me to pull it out of the back­ground… Thanks for shar­ing the interview.

    Hip Mom’s Guides last blog post..It Wouldn’t Be Fall Without…

    Reply
  26. Pink Ink says:
    October 14, 2008 at 9:16 am

    Great inter­view, Lance. I love learn­ing how other peo­ple bal­ance their lives, and find their real pas­sions. Stacey is remarkable.

    Pink Inks last blog post..Good China

    Reply
  27. Suzie says:
    October 14, 2008 at 10:02 am

    Great inter­view. Bal­ance is so important.

    Suzies last blog post..My Drug Store My Friend

    Reply
  28. Tom Volkar / Delightful Work says:
    October 14, 2008 at 11:32 am

    ” I spend a lot of time dis­cov­er­ing my authen­tic needs and passions.”

    I love to read self-affirming dec­la­ra­tions like this. If we could all sim­ply fol­low your exam­ple on this one path, the world would indeed be brighter and bet­ter for all.

    Nice work Lance, it’s obvi­ous that you enjoyed the inter­view as much as Stacey did.

    Reply
  29. Stacey Shipman says:
    October 14, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    Nice to get to know Stacey more. I keep find­ing things in com­mon! I’ve been read­ing her blog for a lit­tle while and it’s always nice get­ting to know peo­ple online! Like you, I believe it would be nice to talk face to face and per­haps one day we will. Great interview!

    Stacey Ship­mans last blog post..Suc­cess Comes from The Heart

    Reply
  30. workout mommy says:
    October 14, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    what a great inter­view and per­fect tim­ing for my life right now!

    work­out mom­mys last blog post..What’s in your fridge?

    Reply
  31. Jenny says:
    October 14, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    Thank you Lance for inter­view­ing Stacey! I imme­di­ately jumped over and sub­scribed to her blog because I am in the most dire need of bal­ance! I am eagerly await­ing cruis­ing through her site soon!!

    Jen­nys last blog post..Moments

    Reply
  32. Rachel says:
    October 14, 2008 at 4:02 pm

    Great inter­view. I can’t wait to check out more of Stacey’s blog! :)

    Reply
  33. Grounded Fitness says:
    October 14, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    great inter­view! ive been a fan blog for a while and its nice to see the girl behind the scenes!

    Kelly Turner
    http://www.groundedfitness.com

    Grounded Fit­nesss last blog post..What Yoga Teaches You: Har­vest Peace for Your­self and the Planet

    Reply
  34. Oktober Five says:
    October 14, 2008 at 5:40 pm

    I like how you talk about being aware of your pas­sions. That, for me, is crit­i­cal in main­tain­ing bal­ance. If I’m not aware, I pass them up for lesser things, thus throw­ing off my balance.

    Okto­ber Fives last blog post..When I For­get, You Lose

    Reply
  35. Mike Foster says:
    October 14, 2008 at 6:39 pm

    Great job, Lance. Very inter­est­ing stuff, I liked Stacey’s com­ment about her cre­ative energy increas­ing since she started blog­ging. I feel this is true with me as well; some­thing about putting your­self out there sev­eral times a week, while know­ing that your have an appre­cia­tive audi­ence, brings out the best in me.

    peace,
    mike
    livelife365

    Mike Fos­ters last blog post..How To Sur­vive an Elec­tion Year Finan­cial Meltdown

    Reply
  36. Lance says:
    October 14, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    @Liara — We can learn much from each other, yes! And, it is really great to con­nect with other great peo­ple out there — and Stacey really is one of them!

    @Hip Mom’s Guide — I couldn’t agree more — she is very well cen­tered. And hear­ing her talk about bal­ance really does help oth­ers (me included) to be more focused on this.

    @Pink Ink — Right on, Stacey is remark­able! And shares a great message…

    @Suzie — Thanks!

    @Tom — I did enjoy this inter­view very much! Stacey has a great mes­sage she shared with all of us…

    @Stacey Ship­man — It is great to get to know this “Stacey” more, isn’t it!

    @Workout Mommy — Glad you enjoyed it, and that the tim­ing was right — some­times things just fall into place at the right time!

    @Jenny — You will find much inspi­ra­tion from the words that Stacey shares with us. I’m glad you enjoyed this!

    @Rachel — Check it out, Stacey has some great stuff!

    @Grounded Fit­ness — Thanks, and yes — I agree — get­ting to know the real Stacey behind Createabalance.com was great!

    @Oktober Five — Stacey’s right on when she talks about being aware of our pas­sions. That’s where it’s at — find­ing what brings us pas­sion, and let­ting that come alive in our lives.

    @Mike — Thanks! Yes, there is some­thing out putting your­self out “there” — that can really bring out the best in us. Whereever “there” is. Blog­ging is a great exam­ple of putting our­selves out “there” — and Stacey does this in a very real and authen­tic way — and that’s what makes her writ­ing so powerful!

    Reply
  37. FitMom says:
    October 14, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    Wow. That was really inter­est­ing and I learned a lot. Could use all the life bal­ance I can get. As a mother of two under five as well, I find it hard to declare “my time” with­out feel­ing guilty about it.

    Fit­Moms last blog post..In Honor of Breat Can­cer Aware­ness Month

    Reply
  38. Diane says:
    October 14, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    Great Inter­view! Quite inspir­ing and Upbeat! I’ll check out her web­site soon!
    I pre­fer the term self-love! Self­ish (only think­ing of one­self) always brings up dis­re­gard for oth­ers. And that’s not what it seems to be… It is more like car­ing for one­self and oth­ers as well. A sym­bio­sis!
    Thanks, Dave

    Reply
  39. Avani-Mehta says:
    October 14, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    Great inter­view. It’s always feels nice to know more about blog­ging friends.

    Avani-Mehtas last blog post..How To Bal­ance Life Effortlessly

    Reply
  40. Lance says:
    October 15, 2008 at 3:56 am

    @FitMom — Stacey is full of great life bal­ance infor­ma­tion — check out what she has to say on her site — you won’t be disappointed!

    @Diane — Yes, go see what Stacey writes! It’s prob­a­bly worth check­ing out her arti­cle on being self­ish, and the fol­low up arti­cle talk­ing about self-nurturing — I think this explains her think­ing quite well (and in agree­ment with what you think).

    @Avani — Thanks, it is nice to get to know our friends in the blog­ging world a bit better!

    Reply
  41. Robin says:
    October 16, 2008 at 8:46 am

    Great inter­view Lance — I already read Stacey’s blog, but now I feel I know her better!

    Robins last blog post..Galaxy For Blog Action

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. My First Blogosphere Interview says:
    October 13, 2008 at 11:10 am

    […] are always excit­ing… and I am very excited to share that Lance at The Jun­gle of Life is spot­light­ing CreateaBalance.com and my life’s work of help­ing peo­ple bal­ance their sense of […]

    Reply

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