(Third of five parts)

What is the balance?
If we go to the etymological origin the word comes from the Latin “bilanx” and means literally “two cymbals” and refers to the balance of two dishes.
And it describes the movement generated in the process by which similar weights are found in both plates.
It is also used to express the left/right, backward/forward movement that some people associate with doubt, hesitation, disorientation and others associated with the art of finding the central support point.
Some more uses that have been given to the word, referred to this movement and point of balance are in terms of debts and credits in the economic/financial framework.
In Hellinger’s gaze it is used to express the exchange of what we “take and give”. Of origin refers to that based on our belonging, if we respect the correct order, then we will find that the point scales is in “taking of the ancestors” and “giving to the descendants”, whatever that means, because he does not has defined clearly and each one has given his interpretation from what they observe that he does.
At some point it is extrapolated to life issue, where in order to be happy, successful, wealthy, that balance requires reflecting on our bonds, generating a correspondence between what we give and what we take. It seems that the issue is that if I do not “take” from my parents (I insist, whatever that means) then I will usually establish unbalanced or successful relationships in the rest of my life realms.
Then came Jan Jacob and adjusted it, even changing the name by “dynamic equilibrium” in the intention to recognize the constant change and movement of life and that this balance is not static or unique.
The question is: Is there really balance, stability in life?
When I see the hundreds of hundreds of children who starve to death in a world where there is a 1% of the population that has the greatest accumulation of wealth I question it to myself.
When bosses in companies can have abusive behaviors with a person, at least from my point of view, and they do not fire them or the companies continue to produce money in this way, I do not think so.
When in families, parents fight and take their children as “booty” of the fight instead of giving what “theoretically” would have to give, I really question it in depth.
So the invitation again is, let’s get back to nature.
In nature we can observe from the cell a mechanism that, in area of biology, has been called “homeostasis”. And it is the capacity of the living organism to make the adjustments it requires to face any change in order to continue functioning.
Some have defined it as the ability of an organism to maintain balance/equilibrium, but this is an interpretation of what is observed and perhaps that is the source of confusion.
In fact what we can see is that cells (and consequently all living organisms formed of cells) have a system that allows them to compensate any changes in the environment or in the internal systems to continue to operate, that is, to maintain life. And to this mechanism of compensation some people call it balance.
But is it really a balance?
When we look at nature, what we can find is there are a huge number of different mechanisms of compensation: balance, increase, decrease, substitute, eliminate, stop/generate the production of something new, multiply, conform, adapt, and so on.
Let’s face it, it seems that nature do not give a damn about balance, all it wants is to take care of life.
And as Michael Blumenstein says, “life makes its way into life itself”, the how, seems to be the least of its worries.
If we start from the premise that a social system is a living organism and has the same characteristics and properties of living organisms, then we can find that in social systems the mechanism of caring for life works similarly.
We give a damn about balance. We cocreate and keep alive what we consciously or unconsciously consider will take care of life.
And we move according to what it requires, no matter if we need to “crush” our partner in the way.
Wow!! What a black scenario!, you might think. You may be surprised to discover the wonderful mechanism that nature offers us to take care of life from building together from our autonomies. In the fourth part we will explore how.
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