In today’s life, we seem to be juggling all the time. We might need to “juggle” between screens at work to keep up with all the information at a given time. Away from work, our attention moves from virtual conversations to face to face exchanges and we must keep everyone happy, very much like a skilled performer keeping several juggling balls in the air.
Let us take a deeper look into commonly used expressions such as: “I’m juggling my time between work and family” or “I can barely juggle all the things I have to do”. It is important to understand the real human ability to balance multiple activities so we can stay healthy and happy.
Multitasking is like juggling balls
In his book The Happiness Equation, Neil Pasricha explains that the word multitasking first appeared in a paper written by IBM back in 1965. It was defined as
the ability of a microprocessor to apparently process several tasks simultaneously
He highlights the word apparently to point out that even computers cannot actually process several tasks at the same time. What they really do is time-sharing: only one task is active at a time but they are rotated many times every second.
For us humans, when we have the impression of multitasking because we can brush our teeth while finding the blue socks in the drawer, what we are really doing is taking tiny breaks from brushing our teeth to finding our socks and then taking tiny breaks from looking in the drawer to brushing our teeth. It’s just an illusion. We are juggling these two tasks. Our brain is like a computer processor, it cannot work on two tasks at the same time, it only schedules when each task gets a turn, giving the impression that they are both accomplished at the same time. He calls it the illusion of parallelism. Doesn’t it remind you of the illusion created by the performer juggling balls in the air?
Juggling chores vs Juggling attention
Being able to fit a bunch of activities into our daily routines is a very necessary art nowadays. Parents must be able to plan a timetable of afternoon activities for their children so that all of them can be dropped off and collected on time. Juggling afternoon activities is a valuable skill for any parent. The same can be said about completing a series of house chores in the most efficient manner. But when it comes to giving attention to the people you love, is it wise to juggle between replying to work emails and listening carefully to what the people in your personal life are communicating to you at a given moment?
For a performer to be considered good at juggling balls, he is not allowed to drop any ball or club or any other object he might be manipulating at any time. But, come on, if you drop a ball or a club is not a big deal. What about if you drop catching the real meaning of what a loved one was trying to communicate to you because you were time-sharing your attention in an attempt to multitask? It is better to stop juggling balls during the time you spend with the people that matter to you.
Pick wisely
Now that you know how your brain really works, we hope you choose your juggling balls in a way that it enables you to fulfill your expectations about all the things you want to complete in your life, while at the same time you leave the breakable items like the love of those you count on out of your game.
Learn How to Impress Your Friends with the Skills of an Ancient Chinese Warrior!
Did you know that ancient Chinese warriors[2] would juggle in front of their enemies to impress and scare them before battle? Juggling is a hobby anyone can learn and with practice, you too could juggle balls like a warrior in no time!
Juggling is good fun and increases your brain power so that you can be both super cool and clever in front of your friends once you master it.
Most juggling experts say that once you can juggle balls you can juggle just about anything so you should aim to work up to juggling balls but start with something easier like scarves.
Learning to juggle is something you can start straight away. There are hundreds of how to’ videos on the internet to help but ultimately the only way to learn is to practice, practice, practice.
Once you move up to juggling balls instead of scarves you will probably spend quite a lot of time chasing balls around the room until you can juggle with them more confidently. You will have to put a lot of hours into practice but the good news is that you can juggle just about anywhere at any time and if you don’t have balls use something similar like tangerines which have a soft outer skin so they won’t bounce and smash into things so easily. You can learn how to make juggling balls from balloons.
You can also learn to juggle balls with friends. Starting to learn to juggle with a friend can be so much fun and once you are both confident in juggling with three balls each yourself you can start to juggle with each other, passing the balls between each other as you juggle. How impressed will your friends be when you turn up together at a talent show or someone’s party and just start to juggle between each other? It will certainly get people’s attention.
Juggling balls could also be the start of a fantastic career. With many years of practice those who started with juggling balls have gone on to juggle as entertainers on stage in front of hundreds of people and the really good jugglers who have put in years of practice have gone on to juggle on television shows watched by millions of people. When you are a master juggler you can move on to juggle more difficult objects or juggle under more difficult circumstances like balancing on one leg or on an uneven surface.
The most famous jugglers in the world juggle everything from balls, batons and random funny shaped objects to fire and even swords and knives! It is important to remember that these jugglers have had years of experience and have specialist people to help with health and safety so no matter how good you think your juggling is DO NOT TRY JUGGLING THESE ITEMS yourself. You will need to go to a juggling or circus skills expert for lessons when you think you are ready to move up to these more difficult and dangerous forms of juggling.
So why not give juggling balls a try? It’s easy to get started, not expensive at all and you can practice on your own or with friends absolutely anywhere. Remember, practice makes perfect but with a little bit of persistence you too could be impressing others just like an ancient Chinese warrior! Happy Juggling!
[1] Joggling combines juggling and jogging. Lanzi could run on high stilts (twice as long as his feet) and juggle at the same time.
[2] Xiong Yiliao (in Chinese 熊宜僚) juggled 9 balls and made 500 Song warriors flee in a battle around 603 BC. It was a glorious victory for the Chun army.
Find Out These Easy Steps to Make Your Own Juggling Balls
Want to juggle?
Or know how to make juggling balls at home instead of purchasing new ones which are pricey? These simple steps will guide you to make your custom juggling balls and keep practicing. You might end up keeping all three balls up in the air and become a professional juggler, right? First of all, you need to:
Gather your supply:
9 (nine) medium-sized balloons of different colors separated into groups of three.
A funnel.
A pair of scissors.
An empty bottle.
Tape.
One and a half cup of filling of your choice (either rice or sand).
Pro tip: you can create a funnel with the tape and a piece of paper
STEP 1: Pour the rice into the bottle
Place the funnel inside the bottle half cup of rice for example and gently pour it through the funnel as you steady the bottle to prevent it from falling and spilling over. Once the rice is in the bottle, remove the funnel and place it aside together with the filled bottle.
STEP 2: Stick the balloon on the bottle top
This part may be a little tricky. Take one balloon and blow it until it is full of air, then without letting air from inside to flow out, gently but quickly attach the balloon using its opening on the bottle. The tricky part comes here so pay attention. Stick the balloon over the bottle top and flip it upside down to let the rice fall into the balloon. This may require a couple of tries for people starting out but with a little practice, you will get it. As you fill in the balloon, gently twist in a pulling motion the balloon to help the filling to flow until the balloon is completely full. Then gently remove the balloon neck from the bottle.
Take the second and third balloon of different colors and repeat step 1 and 2 by measuring half a cup, filling the bottle with it by using a funnel with filling, inflating the balloons and filling them up, then detaching them from the bottles. It’s that easy. These three filled up balloons will form the base of the juggling balls.
STEP 3: Close the first layer
By taking the pair of sharp scissors, cut the neck of the three filled balloons halfway through the neck and throw away the chopped off part. Take the remaining piece of the neck and fold it over the filled balloon’s body to sit flat. Cut out pieces of tape and attach the flat neck flap onto the filled balloon’s body. Repeat this step for the other balls.
STEP 4: Hide the tape with the second layer
Take the left out balloons for each ball filled with the desired filling. Cut the whole neck of each balloon below the neck. Cover the filled ball, in such a way that the neck of the ball which you taped to its body should be going in, opposite to the wide opening of the balloon you cut over such that one folds over the other. Flip it over to see an exposed circle at the top which is of the color of the filled balloon. Repeat the step for the other remaining balloon pieces.
A rice-filled balloon juggling ball
STEP 5: Finish your juggling balls
With the colored circle up take one balloon piece and cover the ball. Repeat this for the other balloon pieces. Congratulations! You made three juggling balls. Covering it twice will improve look and durability. You can make your juggling balls more fun by painting them or putting stickers to form different patterns. Even write your names on them.
How to Juggle 3 Balls? Mastering the 3 Ball Cascade
As an old performance art, juggling can be traced back to more than four thousand years. Always interesting to watch, juggling balls often appears easy. However, as a beginner, you will experience less juggling and more falling balls. Nevertheless, with some practice and direction, you could be one of the best ball jugglers. While some people learn very fast, others take longer. Here is how to juggle 3 balls.
What you need for 3 ball juggling
3 objects preferably beanbags or small balls. For achieving fast progress in your juggling try Russian style juggling balls.
Comfortable clothes since constrictive clothes might make your hands less flexible.
A little space to move around.
Some patience to learn the art.
Find the balls and a suitable place to stand
First, you need to find beanbags or good balls that are neither too big not too tight. If you are a beginner, it’s advisable to go for small balls that can fit snugly in your hands. Instead of small balls, try using purpose made balls that don’t roll or bounce away when dropped. Once you’ve found the best balls, you need an ideal place to stand. Avoid learning near any fragile objects that might break. Stand with your feet shoulder apart.
Start throwing one ball
From the observational standpoint, this is the simplest way to start. Start by practicing with one ball until you are sure that you are comfortable. While doing this, you need to get used to the weight and the height of juggle. However, avoid throwing the ball too high into the air. As you move on, try getting used to moving your hands in a circular motion.
Go to two balls
Have the juggling balls in your hands with each hand having one and then throw the first ball towards your left hand. Before it reaches the left hand, release the other one towards the right hand. Although you may panic after throwing the ball, this is a habit that you must stop. Make sure you repeat this process several times until you are sure that you are fairly okay. Once you can juggle this easily, try starting with your other hand.
Go to three balls
Have two balls in your right hand and one ball on your left hand. However, if you’re left-handed, let your left hand carry two balls. Only move to this step when you are sure that you can juggle two balls. Start by throwing the balls from your right hand. When the ball reaches the peak, throw from the left hand and when it peaks, throw from the right hand. As you move on with this process, you might start experiencing bad throws. Don’t worry this is just normal.
Experiment with different positions and have fun
Now that you have mastered the art, try throwing the balls in different positions and start catching them differently. If you do it right, then the juggling process will look like a magic. Now that you’ve become a pro, you can start playing around with the balls and having fun. Try throwing the balls between your legs or behind your back? Do not be afraid to try out this. Show your family and friends that you are a pro. However, ensure that what you are juggling will not endanger the surrounding.
Well, that is how to juggle 3 balls. Try it out, practice, and have fun.
On this site, we are going to discuss choosing the right juggling props, talk about the correct juggling technique and we are going to make some of the popular juggling balls.
We will make juggling videos, tutorials and much other interesting stuff about juggling. Come and join us on our journey!