The Art of Balance

Our alarms started blaring at 6:45 am on Friday morning, yanking us out of the comfort of a deep sleep. We had an 8:00 am client meeting in the old town section of Nicosia. Our problem is, we go to bed like Europeans and wake up like Americans. We do not eat dinner until 9:00 or 10:00 pm. Since dinner is an event here rather than an obligatory, rushed activity, we usually do not go to bed until 1:00 or 2:00 am. On this morning, my group had the opportunity to see Andreas’s Nicosia office, which is adjacent to his home. Even the grandest, most exaggerated vision of what I thought his home and workspace would look like did not match up to reality. It is a 200 year old building that was a factory until the 1960. Andreas and his wife renovated and redesigned the space with their creativity, imagination, love and values. 

The entrance to his space was unassuming and was comparable to the other buildings in the small alley in old town Nicosia.  Andreas greeted us with a warm smile and a kiss on each cheek. When I passed through the front doors, I felt like I had entered a sanctuary, as a wave of calmness passed over my body. The right side of the building was for business and the left side was his home. The backyard was a common area that offered peace and relaxation through nature. Andreas explained to us how each element, from the material of the building to the positioning of the trees were designed to maximize eco-friendliness. Instead of using air conditioners, the design of the building cools the area in a natural way. He said the fans (which push air at a rate of 1.5 meters per second) cool your surface body temperature by three degrees and they are 1/20 the cost of air conditioners. 

We sat down with Andreas on stone benches that were surrounded by plants and artifacts from the Cape Greco National Park area that Andreas found. As we talked, I saw Andreas’s wife and twin eleven-year-old sons in the background. A true unification of work and life.

Drawing room

We discussed work-life balance and Andreas’s passion to have his work and family in one place. Since leaving his corporate job in 2006, he eats every single meal with his family every single day. We talked about the phrase work-life balance in the United States and what it really means. It is a popular term in the business world, but it is easier said than done. When an entire culture is working too much and not spending enough time with family, it is difficult for people to go rogue against the grain of the culture. We told him it is something businesses emphasize and value in words but not necessarily in actions. We talk about it a lot, but many times, we don’t successfully implement the concept. At least not on a wide scale. Some people say it’s not possible to achieve a harmonious balance between work and life. I can assure you it is possible, as I have seen it with my own eyes. Andreas’s passion for balance is embedded in the design of his work and living space, a tangible testament that it can be successfully done. His wife helps him with the business and he says she has been his partner in everything for twenty-five years. We ventured up to her office and were fortunate enough to meet her. As Andreas talked to us, he subtly grabbed her hand and then kissed it. He looked at her like it was the first time he ever saw her, with deep love and admiration for his partner in life. As we walked back down the stairs, we saw several beautiful drawings of each of Andreas's  four children, which we soon discovered he had created himself. We were in awe at his artistic talent. As usual, he was humble and said the drawings were easy for him because he loves the subjects so much. Everyone and everything he loves dearly are all together in one beautiful structure in old town Nicosia.

Later that evening, Eric and I arrived at the Larnaca airport to board a plane to Athens and then Crete (Heraklion) to visit my aunt. I was in the dreaded middle seat for the first plane ride, which interfered with my ability to immediately fall asleep on airplanes. The two gentlemen on either side of me might as well have been wearing shirts that read “invaders of personal space.” They were both comfortably reclined in their seats; their elbows crossing over the armrests into the area of my seat. One smelled like tobacco, the other beer. At one point, I had both of my lanky arms wrapped around my body as if, by doing so, I had at least a chance of shrinking into a person half my size.

The first flight was delayed, so when we arrived in Athens, we only had thirty minutes to make our next flight. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot less English in Athens than in Crete. By the time we deciphered signs, passed through customs, walked half of a mile through the airport, and waited in line for security again, we only had ten minutes to spare. Although usually calm, at this point I was convinced we would miss our flight and was trying to rush to get there in time. Eric told me to not go into “crisis mode” just yet. We arrived at our gate and (luckily) found that this flight was delayed as well. We boarded for a short, 50-minute flight to Heraklion, where my aunt picked us up in her yellow Hyundai.

We drove about twenty minutes to my aunt’s house in a small village outside of Heraklion called Arhanes. Arhanes is divided into lower (kato) and upper (ano). My aunt lives in kato Arhanes. When we arrived, we could not see the surrounding land in the dark, but I could already tell the view would be beautiful in the morning. Her second story porch overlooked all of Heraklion, and the lights of the city twinkled at us as we gazed out. We went into the backyard and looked up at the stars, which were even clearer here than at the resort in Cyprus. I saw a band of what resembled misty fog spanning across the starry sky: the Milky Way. In that moment, I felt a sense of balance, similar to what I would imagine Andreas feels every day of his life.