I had a dream a few years back. A dream of connecting with others around the world, a dream of writing and engaging in rich dialogue that led to action and change. I wrote an essay about that dream for Whitney Johnson, then an acquaintance, now a friend. Today a few of my words are [...]
We tend to think of this entire work life balance conversation as a distinctly American, or at least, a developed world issue. Regular readers already know that in my view, nothing could be further from the truth. When I stumbled across this video from the International Museum of Women, Mama’s Work project, you can imagine [...]
My daughter was born on the first anniversary of 9/11, right as the hospital had a moment’s silence for the first tower falling. What was more unusual, especially for a first child, is that her due date was 9/11. In 2002, living in New York, that was a shocking answer to the excited question “when [...]
March 8th is International Women’s Day. Over at www.themotherhood.com I am joining a conversation with the American Cancer Society’s global team to talk about the impact of cancer on our lives and on the lives of women worldwide. From www.themotherhood.com, “We know cancer touches all of us. We’ll share our stories about cancer and our [...]
It’s Australia Day in my home country. As for the past many years, I am in my current home country, the USA (land that I love). But indulge me in a short homage to the land of my birth and formative years. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll have noticed a barrage of tweets [...]
“Sell your crap. Pay off your debt. Do what you love.” Adam Baker and his wife Courtney, have embarked on a unique debt management journey, documented on Adam’s blog “Man Vs Debt”. What started as an experiment in transparency and dreams has leveraged Adam into a substantial web personality in just under a year. I [...]
I confess I’ve been a tad discombobulated (is that not one of the finest words in the English language?). Mostly because I made a conscious decision to relax. For a whole week. Yep, you read me right. Work life balance for me often plays out as family, work, family, work, family, work. It’s about choosing [...]
“I was telling myself, deal with it, this is how I bring home the money.” What if you don’t particularly need or want any work life balance, but if you don’t get some, you’ll probably die? Meet Jason Cooney, husband, father of one, former commercial real estate broker, now commercial banker, and recovering alcoholic. Currently [...]
“I am not working to put (my kids) into every single extra curricular activity; I am working so we can be together.” Adam Christensen manages social media communications for IBM based in New York/CT. Originally from the West, he married Julie at the tail end of their college days. Their honeymoon was the road trip [...]
“The cynics out there might not be interested much in work place lessons from the home. But there are layers upon layers of application. Couldn’t your work place stand to benefit from reduced stress, higher productivity, greater unity and yes, an increase of love?“ A new world of work and life is coming. In plenty [...]
“We sacked the city of Rome, what did you do today?” First day of school, Sept 2009 Emily Orton’s thoughts on teaching, mothering and the world we are preparing our children for continue. For part one, go here. “Mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them.” Charlotte Mason 18th century [...]
There are many groups representative of the larger make-up of our economy whose voices have not yet been heard here at WORK. LIFE. BALANCE. I’ve felt the absence of one group in particular in our story-telling: full time mothers. Why in a blog that is all about the interplay between work and life is that [...]
We met Erik Orton earlier in the week, and left his story as he reached crunch time for choosing his next step in the search for integrity in his work life. Time to introduce Erik’s family, five children, all home-schooled. For Part 1 of Work Life Stories: Broadway Baby, go here. “I needed day job [...]
Erik Orton is a playwright, composer and producer by day, and a presentations whiz for a large investment bank by night. Erik’s story is the journey of an integrated life and what that means to him. From high school, he was interested in theatre and music, pursuing a Bachelors in Media Music (film scoring, studio [...]
The big bad world of Wall St high finance is not the most conducive to mothering and flexible work options. Here’s a unique story of just what is possible when you dare to ask. After her MBA, Sariah Toronto spent several years with Citibank and then moved on to another major financial institution for 18 [...]
Working from home is not as easy as it sounds. It is one thing when you’re self-employed and an entirely different proposition when you’re with a company that works hard and plays hard – with long hours, expecting face time and trying to create a culture as well as run a profitable business. Lindsay Hepworth [...]
Meet Design Mom, Gabrielle Blair, mother of five, with her sixth child on the way. She is Co-founder of www.kirtsy.com, “Digg for Chicks” says Mashable, and her Design Mom blog has been named a “Top Motherhood Blog” by the Wall Street Journal. Gabrielle has mothered full-time, run various businesses, worked full time, worked part-time. Warm, [...]
Still a statistically small group, stay-at-home-dads are becoming more prevalent and represent a unique corner of the work life balance milieu. I asked Stephen de las Heras, one of my daddy friends who is parenting and balancing a freelance photography career, if he would share his story. “I’d clawed my way up through the publishing [...]
