This afternoon brought a special treat. I was able to leave the office before my usual 6-7 PM, have a tasty meal with my better half before sending him off to work through the night and make it back to Oakland from San Francisco while the sun was still out. I've heard of this thing called "work/life balance" before and was on the cusp of believing it to be a mythological concept brought to terms by young professionals everywhere, probably over a happy hour date scheduled 2 weeks in advance. You see, this is what my life has been like, as of late. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining in the least. I crave productivity and feel incredibly blessed to be doing something I love and work for a company I really believe in. I refuse to believe that "work/life balance" is not a feasible reality for myself, though. I'm sure it involves something as simple as waking up earlier in the day, so I can get in more bike rides throughout the week and carrying my camera around with me more frequently so I feel like I'm satiating my creative urges. The pictures above, I took during a creative peak in my life when I was rarely camera-less and got to exhibit my prints in galleries and such. While I'm not looking to be a working artist, I would like to produce new work to share here. After all, I'm a young professional who has to schedule happy hour dates 2 weeks in advance.
How does it feel going from working for yourself to working for someone else again? It's something that I think I would love and hate all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually the topic of a different blog post I've been working on, so stay tuned for more on that!
DeleteGreat post! I think everyone has cycles like this in life, where it seems every minute of every day is scheduled out and friends are flipping through calendars weeks in advance just to grab a few spare hours. That is when we savor the happy hour dates the most. Cheers to finding the balance.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I've been struggling with this for almost 10 years now and sometimes it's better...and sometimes it's worse. The hardest thing, for me, is making sure I keep in touch with people (because I'm prone to being really work-productive but not social) and also for not being so hard on myself when something falls behind. Because something always will - either I won't see my family enough, or won't see my friends enough, or my apartment will be messy, or my boyfriend won't get enough time or my cats won't get enough time or my side projects won't get enough time.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy for me to justify working a lot because I work at a non-profit and I love what I do so there is never, ever a shortage of work (limiting my workload is actually one of my annual review goals for this year as per my boss). So that is something I have to fight all the time.
pencil me in for two months in advance.
ReplyDeleteit certainly takes added effort, but it certainly is possible. this past year i taught high school and was incredibly busy, i'd plan quick dates with friend like one drink or a mani-pedi so that i could then go home and lesson plan or grade papers. it's important to carve out time for yourself, your man and your friends. certainly is a balancing act.
ReplyDeleteHey, seeing these pictures after so many years in a different setting brought good memories & also a bittersweet nostagic soliloqium (missing the camera as the best friend, the creativity peak and well, the shows!). Panta rhei.
ReplyDeleteHey, seeing these pictures after so many years in a different setting brought good memories & also a bittersweet nostagic soliloqium (missing the camera as the best friend, the creativity peak and well, the shows!). Panta rhei.
ReplyDelete