Throughout time and culture, life has been a dance of opposing forces. In Yoruba spirituality, the Orishas represent powerful but contrasting energies. Just as the Yoruba gods stand as personifications of the universe's duality, nature offers countless examples of this cosmic balance: from the searing heat of the desert to the icy embrace of the poles, and from the biting winters to the nourishing summers. Yet, despite our inherent understanding of these balancing acts, human hearts and minds incessantly seek an escape from this duality. This escapism finds a poignant echo in the modern capitalist narrative. The advent of capitalism has birthed a new contrasting force: the mythical equilibrium between the escalating demands of our careers and the quest for a peaceful, fulfilling personal life.
Historically, work was a straightforward part of our daily routine, designed for survival. However, the capitalist era revolutionized this concept. Work was no longer just about sustenance; it was tied to the allure of upward mobility, the dream of affluence, and the accumulation of material possessions. Thus, began the age where individuals found themselves bound, often unwillingly, to the rat race. It's within this context that the idea of work-life balance emerged, more as a paradox than a reality.
Let's explore the four stages of this upward mobility ascent within the occupational journey:
The Entry-Level Stage: Here, the worker, hungry for upward mobility, exhibits a blend of insecurity and ambition. They often forsake balance, zealously investing in career progression. The overriding desire to move up makes them susceptible to molding their behaviors, often compromising self-worth.
The Management Stage: Having climbed a rung, these individuals now have authority over entry-level workers. But with newfound power comes a renewed hunger for more. This ambition often leads to detachment from the previous stage and, sadly, a projection of unresolved workplace traumas onto those still climbing the ladder. For persons with marginalized identities, this stage might manifest in gatekeeping, or other tactics aimed at securing trust from superiors, often at the expense of their own community and people they once identified closely with.
The Leadership Stage: Now not just in a position of power, but in a role crucial for the organization's future, these workers face an identity crisis. Their persona is intertwined with the company, leading them to prioritize its success above all, including their well-being. For people of color, this stage might bring an existential crisis as they grapple with internalizing the dominant culture's values, risking their cultural identity in the process. In this stage difficult decisions must be made as work demands a different, more intimate connection and this might come at the expense of close, personal relationships.
The Wandering Stage: This is the realm of introspection and retrospection. With major career milestones behind them, these individuals find themselves in unfamiliar territory. The absence of a consuming career goal leaves them restless, yearning for another endeavor to pour their energies into. This may be the time when they realize the importance and begin seeking out connections with other human beings. Unfortunately, due to the life they have chosen, they might find it hard making genuine, meaningful relationships.
The poignant reality is that while this system was architected for us, we cannot absolve ourselves from our role in its perpetuation. Challenging this paradigm means recognizing our individual and collective complicity and acting to disrupt the brutal normalcy of this system. It requires conscious efforts at every stage. From nurturing self-worth and community in the Entry-Level Stage, promoting empathy and inclusivity in the Management Stage, a redefinition of leadership that is rooted in connection and servitude that understands the broader impacts of decisions, to embracing our humanity, finding peace and well-being in the Wandering Stage. However, breaking free from these chains demands sacrifices - time, comfort, even societal recognition. It's a steep price, possibly too steep for many. Yet, if we're ever to unshackle ourselves from the capitalist construct and genuinely experience life beyond the confines of our jobs, it's a price we must consider paying. Only then can we hope to find a true equilibrium, where work and life harmoniously coexist, not as dueling forces, but as complementary facets of our existence.