Work-Life balance

The balance between work and life is something that is emphasized in my profession (Social Work), as well as in the other professions that make up my fellow MCFD employees (degrees in Child and Youth Care, Counsellors). Self care is a focus in all 3 education streams, and my co-workers are the healthiest I've ever had (this isn't hard, my only other jobs were minimum wage retail sector jobs). My co-workers practice naturopathic diets, work out at the gym, and take time off for themselves and their families as needed.

Despite my best intentions, and despite my Union-assured flex days (I work an extra 47 minutes on top of my 7 hour day, and thus get a day off with pay every pay period.), I find myself struggling to maintain a quality balance between work and the rest of my life. I often find I need the entire weekend just to decompress, to unwind from my work week.

I've been working on this, of course :)

My "New Years' resolution" was in relation to this balance. I resolved to meditate daily.

That devolved, as resolutions tend to, to 'meditating' only in those moments when I found myself struggling to fall asleep due to worries about my caseload, my clients and their support systems. When I put my book down, turned out my light because I was falling asleep, but then found myself obsessing about the 3 unreturned phone calls, then I would lie, stomach down, in 'corpse pose' and focus on one body part at a time, tensing then relaxing each muscle group, starting with my feet and working my way up to my head. It worked very well in each moment, but certainly wasn't a meditation practice.

I try to focus on my children in the evenings, and I strive to fill each interaction with calm. This is always a challenge, because getting children to complete chores and rushing children out the door in the mornings can be exasperating. However, I have been increasingly successful in the past 13 months at being calm and gracious. That is, I'm less "yelly" than before :)

I try to incorporate time with my husband, my mother, my sisters, my father and his family. I volunteer a LOT, with Job's Daughters from September to June (this is something I do with my Mom), and with the crisis line year round. I find that volunteering, although a work-like commitment, keeps me focused on the types of interactions I love, and keeps me grounded in my work practice.

Still, balance is always a struggle, and I'm learning to recognize that it is a life-long journey.

I have not posted in over a year...

...because I began working for the provincial government. Not once in the 13 months I have been employed, have I been on a team with all positions filled by permanent employees - floats, mat leaves, sick leaves, and just plain old true vacancies not filled. THIS is why my job is hard. Not because of all the "awful" things I see - really, I see poverty and marginalization.

But I love my job, because I love working with people who have university degrees, because I love that people understand the way I think. I love that I'm a unionized worker so much that I'm a shop steward for the BCGEU. I volunteer for committees, like HOYJA, an "aging out" ceremony our Youth Team put on for our youth, celebrated in a traditional longhouse. I'm so happy to have broken free of the "McJob" cycle of meaningless, underpaid work designed to make a rich guy richer.

And I'm taking my kids swimming and camping. It's summer, after all :)