Juggling is one of the most recognized entertainment acts throughout the world. We normally associate the classic red balls with nights of entertainment produced by charismatic circus performers; however, underneath the surface layer of a juggling performance lays a beautiful metaphor. 

Enter Lacey Williams, known internationally as Lacey Lucidity. Born in 1984 in Hamilton, Williams studied Enterprise Business at Mohawk College and in her first year she created a bucket list. On the list were goals such as seeing the Eiffel Tower, the great pyramids of Egypt, and the ability to juggle three balls. The last of the three on the list would influence her future heavily. 

“That Christmas when I was 19 my parents got me juggling balls, and I learned to juggle three balls in a week,” she said, “I didn’t do anything with it.” 

Before she knew it, juggling was her passion, she graduated in 2004 and soon started working with the Canadian Revenue Agency. In 2007, after her first winter of work she travelled to London, England for the summer where she found herself with quite a bit of free time. 

“I didn’t know a lot of people and I had a lot of spare time… so I got three balls and that’s where I learned my very first tricks,” she said. “It just started off as a hobby, just something I loved doing.” 

Over time, Williams utilized knowledge of the business world to help evolve her promotional strategies to her current formula of success. During her years at college, Williams boasted the titles of Class Rep, Student Governor and President of Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship. The knowledge and experience she gained has been vital to her success. “In that program I learned how to build a website, how to use MS Office correctly, how to write a professional email and how to keep good conduct in business… The reason I have been successful is that I have this business side,” she said. “I look at other artist’s that I know have no background in business, and they are unable to be successful the way I am.” 

Williams’s journey was not easy; she could not progress past ten catches with five balls for a year. This block in her skill awakened her to an important realization: allowing herself time to relax. Williams had been so caught up in her work that she wasn’t allowing herself the proper time she needed to improve upon her juggling skills, so she created more of a balance between work and play, allowing herself more time to practice than her usual two hours a week

“When you tell someone they have permission to relax, it’s almost hard for them to believe it because of this dismissive attitude towards free time… you’re graded on your productivity.” She said, disheartened, “your ability to have a peaceful, happy and healthy life? There are no grades for that, so there is a lot of pressure.” 

Williams’s skills improved after a year, and she began doing live performances while she had time away from her job. The side performances finally paid off last year when she made the decision to leave her nine-to-five job to focus completely on performing around the world. Williams isn’t just in it for the money, fame and travel experiences though. She also spreads a beautiful message with her performances: we are all jugglers in life. 

Everybody in life has stresses. Williams’s message revolves around the fact that we are all holding many things close to us at the same time i.e. family, work, friends and that it is inevitable and in fact, quite alright to drop the ball from time to time. 

“To accept that it’s okay to drop the ball is a concept we all understand, which makes it a beautiful metaphor for moving forward after mistakes,” She said. “You can always pick it up and try again.” 

Since she started following her juggling dreams full time, Williams’s opinion on happiness and success have changed. She feels that we as a society gauge success with our productivity. A lot of the time we lose ourselves in our work, thinking that a good salary and good workplace productivity is all that is required for a happy life. According to Williams, it is self-defeating to not give your mind a break from work and life stresses. Juggling is beneficial in the sense that it provides a physical task for the body and allows the mind to relax and recover from stresses. 

“When you do something that is not related to that normal idea of success we have, and you’re doing it because you truly value it and you have no shame in wanting to relax. It is one of the most liberating feelings in the world and contributes to good mental health.” 

Williams has been on a tour of Ontario this past spring performing at events such as the Dundas Buskerfest and Hamilton’s Artcrawl, with her biggest performance taking place this August at Toronto’s Buskerfest. 

By: Liam Graham

This story was originally published in Fall 2015 of the Mohawk Alumni In Touch magazine.