Balance

Sunday, 11 pm. 
I am procrastinating on my editorial duties.  The proof is sitting in my inbox, waiting for me to look for typos and sign off on it.  I believe this is called proofreading?  And I just don't feel like proofing or reading right now.  Everyone else is fast asleep, and I'm enjoying being alone.  Well, not quite alone.  Carbon follows me everywhere and is currently lying at my feet.  I have one foot propped on her, the other curled under me. Yes, I know this is bad for my knees, but years of being a tall person in a short person's furniture world have accustomed me to contortionist sitting, and now that's what's comfortable to me.

This upcoming issue is by and about new leaders.  Almost all of them describe their work as a balancing act, so I started looking for a cover image to illustrate that.  Google images is both a blessing and a curse.   It's amazing how many random images come up, even when you think your search term is precise:  Seesaw, Teeter Totter, Balancing Act, Balance, Free Images.  However, there are still hundreds that precisely fit my needs, and more that serendipitously take me into even more fruitful paths.  That's how I got from See Saw to Balance.

In fact, it has become increasingly clear that I am not the only person in need of balance.  From the old grand masters to modern photoshoppers, from yoga instructors to MBAs, the search is on.  Some claim to have found the way and are ready to teach you, while others are seekers, sharing their confusion. Count me in with the latter.

But the images!  The variety is fascinating.  I have a great fondness for the variations on the balanced rock theme:  some natural, some contrived, some shiny beach piles, some wind-eroded monoliths, all bringing that sense of calmness and order:  they should fall, but you have the utmost confidence they won't. 

A week ago I found the perfect image for the cover art.  A sturdily-built middle-aged woman in slacks and polo shirt stands, facing away from the camera, arms outspread.  Her hands appear to be holding the chains of a balance scale, and her feet are firmly planted, one in each dish.  She is suspended in mid air, holding herself up by the chains.  I proudly copy it to my PC, to join the more mundane images of seesaws and balances.   I find another image on a stock photo site:  a medieval jester balancing on two sword points.  It's amazing, but I find out that it costs actual money to use it.   Um, we're a volunteer-run, non-profit organization.  Free is what we want. 

This is when I realize that I did not make a note of the provenance of my fabulous balancing woman image.  I go back to my search engine, trying to remember what keywords I used the first time.  All my searching is in vain.  When you want to find any image, Google Images rocks.  When you want to find a specific image, it's less helpful.

3 days later
In between on call work, job applications, remodel, renter interviews, and estate sale prep, I have been sorting through Google Images.  I find every image I've found before, except the one I'm looking for.  I write to the owners of other good images.  Some ignore me.  The rest say, um, no, we bought that one.  My mentors all agree that we cannot risk copyright infringement.  As library wonks, it would just be wrong. I am getting ready to use a mundane silhouette of a "justice" scale.  Fortunately, wikimedia commons comes through for the guest editor (and I now have another resource to add to my arsenal.)  He finds three artworks, and we agree on one.   Tomorrow I'll be posting the final product, another online journal issue brought to completion.

Considering the balancing act that is my life du jour, this is an accomplishment indeed.