Balance Goddess proves that extra effort goes a long way | Editor's Notebook

As if there weren’t enough intense, mind-boggling performances already.

And then along comes Lara Jacobs Rigolo to put us on the edges of our seats with her “Manipulation” segment during Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna,” which opened last week under the big top at Marymoor Park.

Aside from music playing softly in the background, the big top was silent as Jacobs Rigolo carefully balanced small to medium to lengthy palm rib upon palm rib as we mentally urged her on to success.

At first, she was quiet, matching the crowd’s hushed demeanor.

Soon, however, we could hear her  light breathing through a microphone as she concentrated on achieving her goal of keeping those palm ribs together, holding them above her head with one hand — and then balancing them on her head.

At one point, when she still had five sticks to go, I wondered why she didn’t just stop and bask in the glory of balancing 10 of them. Wasn’t that good enough?

Nope.

The Balance Goddess pushed herself further to reach her limit of 15 palm ribs, which in total weighed around 45 pounds.

I’m always up for finding inspiration to take things beyond what we’re “required” to do in life, whether it’s on the job, at home or in the community.

There are no limits to what we can achieve, and Jacobs Rigolo proves that we can put in a little more effort in order make life more fulfilling for us or by lending a hand to someone in need.

We’re always balancing tasks in our lives, and sometimes it seems as if there’s too much on our plates to put in a complete effort — something that will make ourselves proud.

Watching the Balance Goddess gave me a boost of confidence and hope that we can all put in that extra effort each day.

 

Contact Redmond Reporter Editor Andy Nystrom at anystrom@redmond-reporter.com or 425-867-0353, ext. 5050.

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