Work/Life Harmony

If you are like me, you struggle with what is usually called “work/life balance.” What I have tended to mean by this term is the process of effectively doing my work while taking care of the other important aspects of my life--family, friends, self-care. Sometimes I have been more successful at this than at other times.

When I coach leaders, this is a topic that often comes to the surface. Busy leaders want to be effectively engaged in their churches or organizations, but they also want to have a life!

I wrote a blog three years ago and commented on author Bob Johansen’s term “work/life navigation.” In that blog, I wrote and cited Johansen:

“Navigation” reminds us of whitewater rafting. There are obstacles to be avoided but there are also currents that can help or hinder us in the process. We have many choices, and they are always changing! Johansen writes, “Work/life navigation is a clear and useful term, since it frames the life choices of a career very clearly but gives lots of choices for individual variation.” This is true for other life choices such as personal relationships and self-care as well.

I think I have found another term that might work even better. In a recent podcast, I heard Stephen Lewis, president of the Forum for Theological Exploration, use the term “work/life harmony” as a substitute for work/life balance. Lewis said,

And for me, that’s kind of some of the things that I’ve learned and what I see, and you and other folks that I think have a good harmony, because I’m not sure that there’s such a thing as balance. But there is a way to harmonize your life in such a way where you can be faithful to the work that you’re being called to, and the ways in which your life is forever unfolding in this pastoral life.

I am not a musician (as anyone in my family can attest) but I do like music, especially choral music and acapella singing. When two or more people are singing, it is important to be in harmony. One definition of harmony is “a pleasing combination of different parts.” Bringing disparate parts together can create something beautiful. All the elements are distinct with their own strengths, but together they are so much more.

Perhaps the challenge is not so much balance or navigation, but harmonizing the different parts so that they complement and strengthen one another, producing something beautiful. What a great idea!

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