The Best of Both Worlds

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“Keep my feet on ground, and my head in the clouds.”
~Time of Your Song by Matisyahu

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Flying trapeze is often thought of as the quintessential circus discipline. I can’t remember the time when I couldn’t hum along to, “He flies through the air with the greatest of ease …” ¹

Flying, twisting, and spinning through the air is certainly a feat that captures the imagination. In spite of how cool the idea of flying trapeze is, the thought of actually doing it doesn't appeal to me—letting go of the bar, tumbling through the air toward a catcher I can’t even always see…nope, no way. Thank you very much, I’d rather dance through the air going higher and higher, as the daring young girl on a great long tightwire.

Highwire to me seems like the best of both worlds: walking in the clouds with feet firmly planted on a sturdy (if narrow) wire. It might not be the ground, but it is something—a very real something.

I’m still so far from that goal; my practice is—literally—very grounded and my dreams are anything but. No surprise: in order to achieve my highwire ambitions, I need to find a balance between, as author Mike Robbins described it, “the yin and yang energies of dreaming and doing” – between “thinking about big goals, dreams, and ideas” (head in the clouds) and “staying grounded in reality, taking practical action and keeping things real” (feet on the ground).

The last few weeks especially have been a time for me to re-evaluate how well my head and my feet are connected on this journey of mine. The prompts in Mike Robbins’ blog post Keep Your Head in the Clouds and Your Feet on the Ground were helpful for that evaluation:

1. Notice where you are on this spectrum.
   On average I definitely tend to be a thinker, a dreamer, a fantasizer. Now I want to realize those big dreams.
2. Allow yourself to focus on your dreams.
   That’s what this blog is all about! With dreams that sometimes seem bigger than me, it’s easy to lose sight of them. The time I spend crafting my thoughts to share with you really does help, as does having a record of those thoughts.
3. Take intentional and effective action.
   This was the big one for me. It’s time for summer goal setting. Here’s what I’ve come up with: #1: learn to rig a basic tightwire—it’s time for more than close substitutes, #2: take a beginning ballet class for poise and performance flair, #3: get comfortable on longer slacklines to prepare for more highlining, #4: conquer full turns and spin walks by practicing daily: both have been my nemesis this last year.
4. Get good support and feedback.
   You, readers, are awesome support! As I’ve opened up and shared my dream and obsession with friends—and even strangers—the outpouring of support and enthusiasm has done my heart good. Part two though still needs attention: I lack good sources of feedback since I train solo so much. I’m not quite sure what to do about this right now. I guess that will be summer goal #5: find an avenue for feedback.
5. Have fun!
   Now that, I can do. Fun, happiness, and serenity are what draw me to balance.

With this balance of goals to keep me grounded and dreams to give my heart wings, I hope to make progress toward my goal of highwire—make progress toward experiencing that best of both worlds: my feet gliding firm and steady on the wire, heart reveling in the joyful abandon of walking in the sky. While it isn't always easy for me to balance those dreams with what I need to do in the here and now in order to achieve them, I have to believe it’s possible. After all, I firmly believe in my ability to navigate and master even the most daunting of balance challenges.

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¹ The song was inspired by acrobat Jules Leotard—the inventor of the flying trapeze…who also did indeed popularize the one piece, skin-tight item of clothing named after him: the “leotard.”