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deletedMay 20, 2023Liked by Kieran Setiya
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Only capitalists cannot forget the ''best''. I am not one of them.

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If you want to succeed big, you likely have to monomaniacally pursue one goal to the near exclusion of every optional activity. Is this a conclusion you are drawing?

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May 20, 2023Liked by Kieran Setiya

I think you're right, that the "balance" in work-life-balance is an oversimplified dichotomy "between paid work and everything else" and we need a better image than a see-saw or weighing scale with only two ends. Maybe something multidimensional, or deep and complex (messy/incoherent) like an ocean or forest. Like you said, "value pluralism" isn't something we should fight against, but rather embrace and navigate (not easily done on either accounts, since the either-or model of life is so entrenched). Thanks for this article.

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But why do we call it work-life "balance"? Work life harmony may make more sense & also address your concerns. Sometimes some things do overwhelm us & take precedence- like a project at work or a care giver role. When we are consumed by it we may have to let it. When the role doesn't exist anymore we resume with our lives that we put temporarily on hold. And that's how it will be.

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But why do we call it work-life "balance"? Work life harmony may make more sense & also address your concerns. Sometimes some things do overwhelm us & take precedence- like a project at work or a care giver role. When we are consumed by it we may have to let it. When the role doesn't exist anymore we resume with our lives that we put temporarily on hold. And that's how it will be.

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"When we aim for “work-life balance,” then, I don’t think we’re tracking a deep distinction in the value of activities, but something more superficial—though its effects are profound—which is the balance between paid work and everything else. Our problem is that, under pressures both economic and social, the activities for which we’re paid expand to fill our lives. These activities come to define us: our job is what we cite when someone asks us what we are—rather than saying “I am human; nothing human is alien to me.” To fail at work is to be a failure. No wonder we invest so much of ourselves in what we do for money."

So much good stuff in this post, but this section stands out to me. I'm lucky to work a job that doesn't try to follow me home - there's no pressure to answer emails, take phone calls, or work endless overtime to meet deadlines. However, I still find myself tangled up in that job when I'm at home. I think about it when I'm cooking dinner, I pass zombie-like through pages of what I'm reading thinking about work instead... because I care deeply about it. It's not bad to care about my work, but it's risky to put so much of myself in one box. If I lost my job tomorrow, I'd be emotionally crushed. Better to embrace the 'value pluralism' of life, diversifying my personal-identity portfolio, and be a more resilient person for it.

Thank you for writing this.

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