Work/life balance

In our modern, fast-paced world, how often is it heard: “I’m trying to find a work/life balance?” And yet, what does that actually mean? Can we truly compartmentalize our lives into a work/life balance? And if so, what could such a balance look like? Would it be a 50/50 split? Or if we were to use a pie image, would we cut a certain size for work, family, leisure, rest, service to others? How would we decide on the size of each piece? What criteria would we use to turn the pie into a balanced life?

What if there were no balance to be found? What if we were to scrap the idea of work/life balance and start from a different orientating reference point: there is simply life. Everything we do is life – our life. And what is Life? Vimala Thakar argued that “life is relationship.” What if “life is relationship” was central to our way of viewing ourselves-in-our-world? Perhaps then whether we were at work, with family, being of service to others, having me-time - we could be living life to the fullest. Perhaps within the orientation that “life is relationship,” the balance would find us, rather than us trying to impose balance onto life.