I have been back in Beijing for a week now, after 2 months in Europe, and today I had some interesting thoughts about balance.  Myself, in my daily routine, am trying to find the proper balance…as I am not really working it is all too easy to spend an entire day basically doing nothing, sleeping, eating, working out…being online…but of course for me that only lasts so long before I get really antsy and feel the need to be productive…for now this means making art or finding grants.

But today I did also have to run an errand, go to the Lomo store to drop off film for developing.  ON my way I had to pass through Sanlitun Village, which is pretty much the “5th/Madison Avenue” of Beijing in some ways…chock full with designer stores.  As I biked past Balenciaga, Versace, Lanvin…I smiled and thought of a former life…when I used to toil at Vanity Fair, and fashion and luxury was a part of my life in a way that it isn’t anymore. 

It seems strange to me that in all my travels around the world, it is usually the people with the less seem to have more, non-materially of course.  And naturally, I don’t mean people who have nothing…I mean people who live comfortably without excess…these people seem to have found a good balance, and as such live happy content lives.  Compared to many people I know who have A LOT, it is sad to think that so many people in this world believe that material wealth leads to spiritual wealth. 

Of course I feel that for me to even be thinking about these things is in some ways, how do I put it…not hypocritical but just uhhh…easy?  I mean, here I am, someone who lives pretty much by my own rules, who lives comfortably, and never really had to work THAT hard, at least I don’t feel I have.  I’ve been a lucky dog, so its easy for me to say that striving for excess isn’t necessary…mostly because I have been able to get what I want without breaking my back…but then I guess that doesn’t discount my ideas either. 

I guess all I am really trying to say is that I hope that someday even if I do gain material wealth, I will not let it change me and my views on balance and less is more.  I hope that I will not become greedy, and revert back to coveting possessions, aspiring for more for the sake of more.  I hope that I will be able to share my wealth with everyone, not just friends and family but strangers too.  This is what I hope for…