Well… . Actually I have the opposite problem. I find myself thinking a lot about leisure during work hours and have no trouble blocking out work thoughts during my leisure hours. I think about hiking, swimming in the warm sea and spending time on the beach, being in a warm climate walking amogst the tropical plants, and all kinds of other leisure things while I'm at work. In fact, the hope that one day I may be able to make my living some other, leisurely way and not have to sit in an office in front of a computer is often the only thing that gets me through the day.

The only problem is the reality that I'm stuck here in front of the computer while time keeps marching towards my inevitable demise. This realization then causes anxiety that I must find that other, leisurely way as quickly as possible – lest I waste away too much of my limited time. Of course this quest to find the other way then obsesses my mind and brings me to a state of panic when after many hours, over many weeks I have found no definitive solution to the problem and am forced to retreat, emotionally bruised and bloodied but not completely defeated, into the office where I will submit to the demands of my employer and gather my resources in preparation for the next campaign.

Does anyone else suffer from a similar state of mind?

I also remember at my first Seder that I was a little bit different because I liked one entree the most, the bitter herbs. The horseradish is supposed to represent "suffering."

I now think about some of those in today's workforce who think they must be Type A all the time. They believe that anybody who isn't full-steam like them isn't as dedicated to their work or career. And it all can't be enjoyable, you have to suffer, you have to miss out on a kid's baseball game like they did. I used to disagree, now I see I really do buy it, though only up to a point.

I now recall one of my favorite sayings which I offer to them, namely, "Suffering is mandatory. Misery is optional."

Shalom!

Thank you, THANK YOU for this fantastic and cunningly à-propos post!

Although our lives are -very- different (from what I have so lovingly enjoyed from you in my short-term-edness as a fan ;) ), I could relate to so much of this, of special note, your comment regarding ". . .the hardest part of this blended life for" you:

"…but transitioning between the everything."

AND also(!) . . . :

"I realized that even though I’m going through the motions of separating from work each day, I’m not making the mental transition as effectively as I could."

Wow, I tell you – I make that very same 'realisation' every single day these days, or so it seems(!).

Again, thank you for the uniqueness and authenticity (er, "Hey look! A HUMAN wrote this! Novel! Yay!" – as it CAN be, so to speak(!) ;) ). (Erm, but -obviously- never in any of your endeavours. I think I made my 'point', heheheh – YOU 'RULE'! ;) ).

Peace, and thank you for this invaluable personal-experience info. on "walking the walk WHILE talking the talk" ;)

~Ank(Rae)
(yowsers! And thank you also for the 'Markdown Syntax' link to Daring Fireball – hopefully I'll make use of it next time! :\ !)

Penelope's post about the Passover story really resonates with me as I think about the two things I love to do more than anything else: perform music and downhill ski. I recently discovered the biggest reason why I enjoy each is because of the total focus and concentration required in the moment for each. You simply cannot be thinking intently about other things when you are doing either of these tasks at a high level. For me it is something like subconcious escapism.

Perhaps the concepts of happiness or contentment and blended life/work-life-balance are two separate topics. It seems that contentment is achieved through more of a philosophical discipline. For some this may mean religious faith, for me it means living in the now (please note that this is NOT the same as "letting fate decide" nor does it forego intelligent decision making for the future). But the blended life/work-life-balance topic is more of a question of priorities and goals. What work or life accomplishments do you hope to achieve? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve them? I think it may be possible to attain happiness with a lot of different work-lifestyle structures if your mental house is in order, so to speak.

Again, saying it and living it are two very different things.

Interesting that you should talk about Passover. We have a blended religious family as well, and attended a Passover seder on Monday nite. I had so much to do, I really didn't want to go and thought about sending hubby and daughter on their own. But it was such a great, family-friendly event (plastic frogs and flies on the table to represent the plagues, Passover songs sung to the tunes of popular sitcoms). It was a great family time, especially when PunditGirl was chosen to read the four questions.

So, I struggle with the "balance" every day. Thanks for writing about your world to help us focus more on similar issues in ours!

Happy Passover!

Blended. Balanced. Boundries. Maybe choosing appropriate times and places to focus one's attention?

I really think the only solution is to turn off the cell phone and blackberry (which I did at 3:30 on Monday to get ready for the onslaught of our relatives.) I agree with some of the other comments that highlight how easy it is to think about work when you are hiking but the opposite is not necessarily true.