Hey there bumblebees and welcome to this week’s Friday Open Thread! Pull up a chair, put away your phones, except don’t actually put away your phones if that’s how you’re reading this because that defeats the purpose utterly and will make it very hard to participate, have your favorite hot or cold or room temperature drink on me.

This week I’m thinking a lot about balance. Personally I’m really good at totally immersing myself in exactly one area of life — one job or a different job or friendships or relationships or working out or eating well or heading toward sustainable mental health or sleeping the exact right amount or building a rich inner life or being very, very tidy — and really bad at doing a sustainable amount of those things all at the same time. Work AND leave my house? Eat well AND go to bed on time? Hang out with other people AND also myself? How do you even do that?

No really, I’m actually asking you. I lit a rainbow candle that has the word “balance” printed on the side (I know, I’m rolling my eyes at me, too) but so far it has not been forthcoming. How do you prioritize yourself and your job and your work (not usually the same thing) and other people and staying alive as a person and feeling good? How do you think of balance in your own life? I don’t know the answers but I do have this candle and this comment box and I want to hear yours.

Also! Traveling for Thanksgiving? Indignant because real, i.e., Canadian, Thanksgiving was back in October? Not super into holidays that celebrate colonialism? Excited about or dreading related days that celebrate late-stage capitalism? Let’s talk about that! And about anything else up with your week! See you in the comments!

How To Post A Photo In The Comments:

Find a photo on the web, right click (on a Mac, control+click), hit “Copy Image URL” and then…
code it in to your comment like so:

If you need to upload the photo you love from your computer, try using imgur. To learn more about posting photos, check out A. E.’s step-by-step guide.

How To Post A Video In The Comments, Too:

Find a video on YouTube or Vimeo or WHATEVER and click “embed.” Copy that code, paste it, you’re good to go!