Day 1 – Leaving the Spinning Plates
Remember that reoccurring act on the Ed Sullivan Show where the guy spun plates high atop a long pole? We’d call them performance artistes now but back then it was just a variety act.
His challenge was to see how many plates he could keep spinning at one time. Sure, the first two or three were manageable but with each successive plate it got harder. Just when he got another one going, he’d have to go back and jiggle an earlier one so it would continue spinning on its perch.
On some shows he kept them all spinning. On others, plate after plate came crashing down sending shards everywhere until Ed mercifully called him offstage and asked for another round of applause.
That’s what it’s like preparing to leave for vacation. Like this multitasker extraordinaire, I seek to keep the plates of my life spinning—at least for a while, long enough to enjoy a spirited round of applause.
The next ones get more difficult. Finalizing a new caregiver for my mom, setting up 2 weeks worth of medication in the trays and continuing the search for an additional day program. It’s a plate you can’t leave with out jiggling it a little now and then.
Then there’s pre-funding your time away from work – putting in additional hours, working ahead, delegating tasks, arranging schedules, jiggling team members’ plates.
And just as that tenth plate is sent spinning, number four tumbles down just as you’re ready to take your bow. In my case, it was a Gen-X coworker in her endless search for information that she’ll wind up discounting anyway. Silly you. So I glue it together and send it back on its wobbly orbit. It'll be waiting for me the next time I take the stage.
And so my vacation begins. Stay tuned for updates. I'll be right back after this commercial message. Let the plates fall, cue the applause sign.
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