You seek stability, Work/Life balance, you explain.

I fail to understand your quest; what sort of balance, I ask?

 

Not everyone has a dream job, I understand;

Many struggle to make ends meet.

Some are tired of the physical labor;

Others, victim of mental stress.

‘Bored to death’, you exclaim!

 

Perhaps, there are higher priority things to do;

‘Quality time’, you imply.

A Senior yearning to take care of sick wife.

A Mom longing to meet kids after work.

A Girl planning to watch a show with fiancé.

A Millennial hosting a party tonight, every night.

 

I admit, corporate walls can turn you insane;

Productivity demands time-off.

Some, also have genuine reasons to escape work.

But, for most, Work/Life balance is just an excuse!

 

If work feels like work, the quest needs to change.

Don’t seek balance! Seek new work.

Explore stuff that you enjoy; at least, change the status quo.

Maybe a new function, a new employer,

Better colleagues, a caring boss.

 

Whatever it takes, find work that brings joy, not eternal exhaustion.

Work that becomes part of life.

Because, when it does, you stop seeking balance,

You start seeking excellence.

And, along comes quality of life!

By Jasmeet Sawhney (@jasmeetio)

 

While I found this poem before beginning my internship, the second week of April, it applies a lot to my experience with the internship now.  As I work on my small part within the larger organization of the Ethnic Business Coalition I am beginning to see this experience in an analogy form. Any organization is like a machine and in order for any machine to run, every small wheel and cog must do its job. I am just a tiny cog within the larger machine, but still my part is helpful in someway within the larger machine. I’ve been asking myself, what is my place in my internship? In the larger scheme of things, how will this experience reflect on my life? Is the work I’m doing for ES going to be prepare, or influence, me in my life’s work, as the fourth to last line of the poem talks about?

I am constantly spreading myself thin this quarter at college, classes, two internships, and many responsibilities outside of work/class. There is no magic button that suddenly allows you to see work and life as one entity rather than two butting heads. But I’m beginning to see how my little part I’m playing within the organization is important, and as I said in my last entry, I’m happy to be doing the work I am doing for this particular organization because I believe so strongly in their mission and ethos. I’m not sure how this internship experience will affect me later in life, but I am learning how important it is to love the organization you work for, even if your part in helping them is just the effort of one small, though needed, part.