We scoff at the idea of work-life harmony, thinking that we are settling for less because work-life balance is an elusive ideal that cannot be attained. But today, I thought I got a taste of what work-life harmony ought to feel like.
So, being the hardworking bull that I am, I planned to spend the whole of today revamping the unit workbook. Remember the one task every day rule I set for myself in an attempt to burnish my confidence and boost my resilience in the workplace. Anyway, alas, my perfectly laid plan was put to rest because my wife wanted to go to the neighbouring town to partake in yakiniku. I’m not senseless, so I said yes. Let’s say the juicy meat was worth the long lunch.
The lunch date was calculated into my schedule beforehand, so I didn’t miss work at all. What I didn’t reckon was that the wife also wanted to take our boy to the doctor. Of course, the only option was to say yes (if you haven’t guessed it by now, she wears the pants in the family). So my afternoon was effectively vanquished.
The unexpected visit to the doctor left me with a gnawing sense of disequilibrium. The moment I reached home, I washed my hands (hygiene rules!) and plopped myself in front of my laptop, eager or desperate to catch up for lost time. But no time to soul-examine how I really felt. I wouldn’t say that I was doing deep work but time flew past like my pay cheque the day it hits my bank account. Whipping a comprehension passage into shape and taking care of the formatting and coming up with questions for annotations took me two hours! During this period, my wife took on one of the few household chores assigned to me; she showered the boy.
I got my comprehension passage done and settled down for dinner. Dinner was a warm pot of nabe. She subsequently asked me, ”So are you done with your work?” My first instinct was to give a long suggestive sigh (which I did) but I did have enough EQ to chime in, “But anyway, I feel better.”
This is in essence work-life harmony. A tolerant wife, a sense of balance you feel within yourself even if it feels precarious, and solid meals, home cooked or otherwise.
