Work-Life Balance?

"Reflecting on the meaning of life may be spurred by psychological crisis but it may also arise from an acute awareness that Henry David Thoreau was correct: most people do lead lives of quiet desperation" (Belliotti, 2001: 10).

Albert Camus’ legendary Myth of Sisyphus demonstrated what could arguably be the predicament of the human condition, in relation to work but also to life in general. Sisyphus is condemned by the Gods to push a stone up a hill only to have it roll back down, and this continues forever (Camus, 1967). Although some people love their work and their life, this picture of the futile life is undoubtedly the case for many others whether they would choose to admit it or not. For a significant number of people, life and work, can be mostly daily drudgery, a treadmill of existence from which they cannot get off, and from which they gradually watch time and their life pass by. As has been frequently pointed out life is an unpredictable journey, and we are not given a set of rules to help us make choices and ultimately, live our lives. A life is made up of various parts and work is only one of potentially many “places” where meaning is created or found. The challenge for all of us is to make sense of the puzzle of life, choose the pieces of our lives and determine how they fit together.

References:

Belliotti, R. A. (2001). What is the meaning of human life? Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi B.V.

Camus, A. (1967). The myth of Sisyphus (J. O'Brien, Trans.). In A. Camus (Ed.), The myth of Sisyphus and other essays (pp. 1-138). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.