JONTILLMAN.COM | part of the problem since 1976

Okay, I know I have posted about the work/life balance and how I just don’t get it several times already, but I find the whole concept, and all of the ennui surrounding it to be a fantastic window on the modern American psyche that I just can’t help but return to it…

Anyway, I had the thought today that potentially the reason that so many people are searching for some sort of balance between their “Work” and their “life” is because neither work nor life really have any meaning to them, or fail to provide any meaning. Perhaps this struggle for integration and balance is really a cry for meaning, for something, anything, true and unmediated in our lives.

Because I am interested in almost anything having to do with what used to be called “home economics” and with stay-at-home spouses and parents, I spend a good deal of time reading websites and message boards of a decidedly religious slant, because the religious community (particulalry fundamentalists) seem to be the only people in America that are giving any thought to, or discussing, home economics, thriftiness, being moral actors, etc.

Because I am a geek and I love cool shiny new toys; be they programming languages, APIs or business models, I spend a lot of time reading websites and discussion boards populated by entrepreneurs, weekend inventors, open-source programmers and ‘probloggers’.

One thing that I have noticed about both of these groups of people is that there is a conspicuous lack of work/life balance hand-wringing. While the discussions in both of these communities is far-ranging; covering daily life, philosophical issues, politics, arcane technical details and general strategies for getting along in the world, there is little, if any, pining for “balance” or “integration”.

My theory is that there is so little talk of this work/life balance amongst these groups of people because it is irrelevant to them. It is irrelevant to them because they have something that has meaning in their lives. The women (and yes, it is ALL women when it comes to home economics discussions) in the homemaking discussions all speak as if they have a mission. The programmers exude excitement in their greater cause, the entrepreneurs and probloggers can’t wait to tell you how much fun they are having, even when everything sucks….

They all have some sort of purpose to their work, their lives, their being. None of these people are doing what they are doing because of the paycheck. None of them are watching clocks and patiently building their 401Ks. They are acting in exactly the ways they feel are correct and meaningful. It really doesn’t matter, from my point of view, if that meaning is provided by Biblical exhortation, a “reputation economy” or the simple fun of being the first to think up or make, or play with something new. It all has meaning, and lends meaning to the participants.

These things are not their life’s calling, with the possible exception of a certain percentage of the religious home makers, these are things that currently excite them, that give meaning to their efforts. These people don;t have jobs, they do things, and I am starting to think that the difference between having a job and doing something is a matter of meaning, not vocation.