Forget Work-Life Balance
I’ve never been a fan of the concept of work-life balance.
The term seems rather tenuous, especially considering how much bleed our personal and work lives have between each other. Tilting one way or the other creates more problems because it appears to be a “this or that” situation.
While looking into the concept of balance as a whole, I leaned in a familiar direction: superhero mythology. That’s where Doctor fate comes in.
Doctor Fate is an agent of the Lords of Order, which had me thinking that he was charged with keeping the agents of the Lords of Chaos at bay. Turns out that’s not the case, as revealed in this quote from the benevolent doctor himself:
“The Multiverse is never as black and white as you’d like. It isn’t about chaos and order. It’s about balance. You’ve been under a misapprehension. I don’t work for the Lords of Order. I work for the balance. Not chaos. Not order. I am the balance.”
When navigating order and chaos, balance makes sense. The middle ground is impossible to maintain meaning that balance between the two elements is ideal. I don’t think the same applies to navigating work and life.
I prefer work-life harmony, because work and life need to intertwined in some respects. There’s no real fight there to maintain balance — no need to wage war against one or the other. In the world we live in, work and personal lives are less separated than ever before. I can’t see that changing, and using a term like balance seems like we’re fighting against the tide.
Don’t strive for balance — unless you’re doing so to keep order and chaos in check. Embrace work-life harmony instead. That way you can do both sides justice.
