Greetings All --

Summer is in the home stretch -- hope you've made the most of it so far. However, if you're already thinking about fall and want to do some creative exploration, consider my workshop titled, Writing: Luxury or Necessity? on September 23 at 2 p.m. It's a Sunday afternoon and takes place in a relaxing studio with futons and pillows. Dreamy, right? For more information, click here. Also, I welcome cheers and jeers on my new blog about manifesting those things we want in life: www.theuniversalflow.blogspot.com.

Enough already with balance!

Can you believe I'm saying this? (Life coaches everywhere are collectively cringing.) Well, my latest life lesson is that sometimes it's about getting used to imbalance and having peace around that.

Now, to be clear, I'm not talking about the workaholic just toiling away and saying "What the heck. A balanced life is hopeless anyway. My kids can raise themselves. Let the dishes pile to the sky." What I'm referring to is that thing we so often do when we're trying to divide ourselves up into pieces -- not be in the moment for anything.

"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else," Gloria Steinem said. I couldn't agree with this more. But is that necessarily a good thing? If everything else I do comes with the thought that I should be doing something else, am I living in the present? That "should" word can be dangerous.

Recently after reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, I was compelled to read her website and learn more about her. I was taken with this quote about writing, "As for discipline -- it's important, but sort of over-rated ... You will make vows: 'I'm going to write for an hour every day,' and then you won't do it ... The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness."

Obviously this principle is about way more than writing. Insert your thing of choice. For instance, if you're not getting to the gym that often or at all, put it back in your schedule and don't waste time fretting over how much time you missed. The bottom line is that if your mind is often preoccupied with how to achieve balance, you may be expending too much energy on it. The idea is to find peace with what's realistic and true.

Or you can continue to self-flagellate and see where that gets you.

COOL THINGS MY FRIENDS ARE DOING:

Mary Tafuri is a holistic health counselor who takes the "whole" person into consideration when working with her clients. Contact her at marytaf@justhabits.com for a consultation ... Mary Carlomagno's Eliminate The Clutter course will put you on a nifty organizational track this fall. Check it out.