Reject the Divide: Why the Pursuit of Work/Life Balance is a Lie

1 hour ago7 min read1 comments

We've been sold a myth. The pervasive idea that our existence is cleanly split into two separate spheres—'work' and 'life'—is a modern fiction that is causing profound psychological harm.We chase an elusive 'work/life balance' as if we are two different people, a concept that feels intuitive but is a damaging cultural construct. A software engineer recently told me that while working from home, his 'work self' was merely a different login on the same machine, yet the mental division was cavernous.This isn't merely an issue of long hours; it's a crisis of identity. The term 'workaholic,' often flaunted as a perverse badge of honor, depends entirely on this schism—the belief that one portion of your identity is for output, and the other for actually living.But who decided this was the model for a human life? To find the origin of this rupture, we must look past the Industrial Revolution, which simply physicalized the separation of work from the home. We must trace it back to the 17th-century philosophy of René Descartes.His foundational statement, 'I think, therefore I am,' severed the mind from the body, placing the intellect on a pristine pedestal away from the imperfect physical self. This Cartesian dualism didn't just shape academic thought; it infiltrated the core of modern society, providing a blueprint for all sorts of artificial separations.The work/life dichotomy is its direct heir, a 500-year-old cultural injury we continue to aggravate. We are now suffering the consequences of this Cartesian lie, attempting to 'balance' these invented halves.We slot 'life' into our digital calendars and approach leisure as another item to optimize. The outcome is a universal feeling of fragmentation—a sense that you are never wholly anywhere because you are perpetually navigating the border between two artificial states.From artists to executives to educators, the refrain is the same: the boundary is leaky, and the resulting bleed generates relentless stress. The answer is not a superior productivity hack or a stricter routine.It demands a radical reintegration of the person. It involves seeking work that feels like a natural extension of your life and building a life that isn't framed as work's opposite.This is about achieving wholeness, not balance. It is a more challenging and profound undertaking, but it is the only path to mending this deep-seated division.

#work-life balance

#creativity

#André Gregory

#Richard Avedon

#philosophy of work

#editorial picks news

#artistic process

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