The whole debate about work/life balance puts me in mind of a tightrope. You set off focusing very specifically on the other end, the place where you can step off. You learn how to hold your body just right, the skills necessary to keep you moving forward. If you don’t balance properly, you’ll fall to the ground and get yourself a nasty case of stress.
Does that ring a bell for you?
My suspicion is that most of us have been on the tightrope from time to time, many people spend their whole working life with their senses straining, in order to stay safe.
What if… what if the whole ‘balance’ thing wasn’t necessary? What if you were walking across a wide bridge, the stone solid beneath your feet, your body moving purposefully forward, your eyes glancing around, taking in the sights.
The first person I knew who managed to stride across the bridge, eyes shining, absorbing the world around him, a spring in his step, was my other half, Mr N. He’s a musician, a pianist, and his work fills most days. At 9 in the morning he’ll start to teach, then he’ll start practicing; he’ll write music, book other musos to play, he’ll listen to music, go to concerts; every conversation he has is loaded with the potential to move into things musical.
I’ve always been slightly envious. His work is his joy, his work is inspiring to those around him, his work is his life.
Life and work seamlessly co-existing, doing what comes natural. Mmm…
What about you? Work/life balance, do you need it?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Jan, this is lovely, thank you!
Mr N sounds like his work IS his life and vice versa – if they are both intimately connected, intertwined, there is no need for a balance between the two.
Thank you, Káren.
It is certainly something to aspire to and within the reach of those of us who have chosen a work path which thoroughly reflects our ways of being. Not so easy otherwise.
And certainly by no means is it easy to make that life choice. I feel very privileged and dare I say it, lucky, to have the opportunity.