“Work-life balance.” While the phrase is meant to describe a healthy approach to doing both things well, for me it calls to mind the image of literally — and constantly — weighing one against the other. Is it more important if I miss this meeting or miss kindergarten field day? Shift the weight. Work late with the team or get home in time for dinner? Shift the weight. Spend dinner enjoying the macaroni or glancing at email on the sly? Nudge the weight.

“Work-life balance” means work and life physically work in opposition to each other. The demands of agency life, even an agency as generous as mine, made for constant trade-offs that seemed out of my control. And for us, it hasn’t been…working. So I’ve decided to throw out the scale and erase whatever artificial boundary separated work from life. It was a blurry line to begin with — every facet of my life informs my work; my work (when it works) is inspiring, joyful fuel for my life. Becoming my own boss gives me better control over both. Forgive me while I hunt for a better analogy here: levers? hoses? I’m not sure how to describe this new version of work/life but the goal is certainly more “and” than “versus.” Stay tuned. And I welcome any wisdom.

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