Rev. Cindy Pincus put it perfectly in her post about removing the stress of self-care and embracing grace. It’s the words I’ve been looking for when I talk about work-life balance. Mostly because balance will never feel right, or like you’re doing enough. Balance still feels like a lot of to-dos and the pressure to do yet another thing right. While balance in the language that most of us use, it’s just another form of hustle culture–something else to achieve.
What I’m personally learning, is that balance looks a whole lot like removing.
Removing things on our to-do list. Removing the pressure we put on ourselves. Removing the expectations of our society. And most importantly removing the standards of hustle culture in order to find a life filled with grace and beauty. Much like what our grandparents might have seen in their simple, technology-free lives.
Jedidiah Jenkins is one of the 50 people I choose to follow on social media specifically because he speaks to the soul about what affects us most. And while this recent post of his is about faith and religion it made me think of our hustle culture, a religion of its own kind.
The stages of enlightenment are ‘construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction.’ Our young brains are told {that} the world has rigid rules and do’s and don’ts. This lets our growing brain feel like the world has structure and is therefore safe. It also helps adults keep kids in line. Then, as we grow, we start to realize those rules don’t quite work in every situation…Reconstruction {philosophy shows you that} you’ve outgrown the box, but you know what it was for and why it exists…And that when the church told you that you would be rejected by all if you fell out of line….You stumbled outside and saw all of us, out here in the field, waving come on.
Jedidiah Jenkins
I picture this image as I think about going against the current and embracing the slow lane. Our society will shame us, tell us that we’re lazy, we’re not doing it right, that there is more to be done. Friends, co-workers, family will all have an opinion about how we should be living. But deep down we know that we can only hold so much and that by letting go of more, we’re embracing all that this life has to offer.
The best part of this all is that on the other side of that hustle culture–of the voices telling you that you aren’t enough, you aren’t doing enough, and building a pressure that makes you feel like you’re about to fall apart–there is a field of new friends waving for you to come on. To join them on this journey as we all seek a life that is more than just to-do lists and embraces the magic of everyday moments.
That’s what’s waiting for you on the other side of hustle culture. I’m just one of those friends waving for you to come and see what life can truly be.
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