Why “Work-Life Balance” is the cudgel, crippling a Generation.

This essay is for people who are passionate about their work, or who aspire to that kind of work. It’s for people who would do their work if it were unpaid, because of the rewards it brings to them. This essay is for people whose work is their calling. It is their vocation.

We labor at our vocation.

Early homo sapiens labored for their food, they labored for their water, they labored for their shelter. Life was labor to sustain life. Most of early homo sapiens’ day was spent hunting, gathering and the remainder was spent protecting themselves from nature and enjoying life within their small communities. But as our communities enlarge and technology advances, we spend less time laboring for ourselves and our communities. We have fast food and home delivery. So what do we do with our time? We live in bespoke realities and communities of one or two.

I spend a lot of time reading both hard copies and online materials. I travel extensively. But I am a sixty-year-old woman, who has adult children and is ostensibly retired. So work-life balance for me, is about keeping myself actively engaged in life so that my mind and body do not atrophy.

I was a guest lecturer at a New York University film class recently and a student asked how I maintained my work-life balance. I…