The Micro-Macro Balancing Act

Because what I do encompasses many different healing modalities, it can sometimes be hard to explain to someone who focuses on one aspect (such as therapy). In fact, there have been a few times that my own therapist has had to suspend her disbelief in order to best support me. So, when a client asked me what she should share with a friend of hers, I broke it down using words normally reserved for economics: Micro and Macro.

Even though this answer was specific to her situation, I think it is actually a very beneficial way to look at life for most of us.

We all live in both micro and macro ways, every single day of our lives:

• We eat food daily in meals and snacks, one bite at a time (micro); over time, those bites, snacks, and meals add up to our overall diet (macro).

• We spend and earn money by paying bills, working, buying things, and having experiences (micro); which adds up to monthly and annual budgets (macro).

• We walk, exercise, sleep, meditate (micro); taken together, these behaviors create a wellness program and journey that benefits our overall health (macro).

Understanding this balance between micro and macro and how they are inevitably intertwined and related can help us grasp the bigger picture of our life and influence how we might want to make changes. If, for example, you want to make big changes (macro), you need to shift your decisions and actions (micro).

The work that I do addresses both the micro and macro levels at the same time. It’s simultaneously energetic, mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. Not everybody will—or can—understand it, which is why I suggested that my client only share the micro aspects with her friend. Not only will this allow her to go deeper on specific issues giving them the time and attention they deserve, it will also help her friend be able to support her better.

The same is true for the rest of us. By focusing on the micro issues, we can impact the macro results. And by focusing on the macro goals, we can make healthier/smarter decisions on a micro level. The key is understanding that the micro and macro are always connected and influencing one another. To think otherwise—to only focus on one aspect instead of both—is to go through life with one eye perpetually closed. It changes our perception, our vision, and our clarity.

Finally, it’s also true that the enormity of the macro perspective can become overwhelming if we try to only hold onto it—or hold onto all of it at one time. Whereas focusing only on the micro perspective can lead us to feeling stuck, exhausted, or uninspired. The dance between the two is where the magic resides.