Standing my ground on Work Life Balance
I remember when I first heard someone say they were seeking Work-Life Balance. “Is that a thing?” I asked. I could tell by the response that it was assumed my question was rhetorical, a misguided indictor of my wry sense of humor, rather than a genuine curiosity.
But truly, I had never heard of the concept before. I came to understand that WLB was a construct, one that I took to mean finding a way to work that doesn’t feel like all one does is work. (Rarely do I think it means, finding a way to live in a way that doesn’t feel like all one does is live.)
Over the years, the term WLB has fallen out of favor on various occasions, replaced by other framings. Work-Life-Harmony. Work-Life-Integration. Ideas like “Integration” might have given rise to counter-movements like “Setting Healthy Boundaries.” Silent Quitting.
I don’t know. I come back to Balance. Let’s explore it.
Balance is first about finding a sense of stability even when the terrain is uneven, dynamic. (As it is, everywhere. Shaking the illusion that a terrain can be fixed and never changing is probably the pre-req.) First, finding balance means tending to the roots - the foundation. What’s the most important foundation for me in my work, in my life?
Balance is about finding focus. Resting my attention on one thing at a time, fully. Whether I’m at work, or at home, am I giving my whole, undivided attention to whatever I’m doing, whomever I’m with, and being wholeheartedly immersed in every given moment? If not, what’s pulling my focus, and what’s the significance?
Because of those deep roots, and strengthened exponentially by deep focus, Balance cultivates the capacity to stretch into new directions in life and in work. And Balance involves developing an acute sense of awareness when one is off-center, wobbly; it means listening attentively for the signals of misalignment and making micro-adjustments to stay centered and grounded. Balance sometimes even involves falling out of balance! As I certainly have, as I do. And too, finding grace in the fall and taking the wisdom from that experience to rise up, again, newly grounded, freshly focused.
If I met that person now who was seeking Work-Life Balance, I might have more ideas to offer. Then again, sometimes the best answer to a question is another question, which led me down this path in the first place. Work-Life Balance: Is that a thing?
