An excellent summary - thank you! I often wonder if my obsession with work is a personal fault, and feel guilty for short-changing my family. But perhaps this is just who I am, and maybe in some philosophies/religions this is not something I have a great deal of control over.
My belief is that privilege plays a major role in accompanying many to a place of managing a ‘life:life’ balance. This privilege can come in many forms, be this access to education, a safe, supportive and curious home life as a child, money and financial freedoms or, as mentioned by a previous commentor, a partner in life who makes it achievable. It is about real access to choices. Making these choices is a trade-off for some, but others never have the currency to trade in the first place.
I think of it as 'passion:chore' balance. At home (4 children, now solo parenting) and at work there are things that need to be done (food shopping, mopping floors, peer review, marking grants) , and things I am passionate about doing (seeing family and friends, developing a better pathway for men with prostate cancer). And there needs to be recognition that both chores and passion are necessary for a balanced (if busy!) life
I recognise this (and can confirm your hard work!) but in many cases gender roles and expectations play a role here, so would love to have seen acknowledged how your wife and others have helped support you to reach your career goals. Who did the school runs?
Life-Life Balance ...
An excellent summary - thank you! I often wonder if my obsession with work is a personal fault, and feel guilty for short-changing my family. But perhaps this is just who I am, and maybe in some philosophies/religions this is not something I have a great deal of control over.
My belief is that privilege plays a major role in accompanying many to a place of managing a ‘life:life’ balance. This privilege can come in many forms, be this access to education, a safe, supportive and curious home life as a child, money and financial freedoms or, as mentioned by a previous commentor, a partner in life who makes it achievable. It is about real access to choices. Making these choices is a trade-off for some, but others never have the currency to trade in the first place.
I think of it as 'passion:chore' balance. At home (4 children, now solo parenting) and at work there are things that need to be done (food shopping, mopping floors, peer review, marking grants) , and things I am passionate about doing (seeing family and friends, developing a better pathway for men with prostate cancer). And there needs to be recognition that both chores and passion are necessary for a balanced (if busy!) life
I recognise this (and can confirm your hard work!) but in many cases gender roles and expectations play a role here, so would love to have seen acknowledged how your wife and others have helped support you to reach your career goals. Who did the school runs?