Work Is Only The Beginning Of A Meaningful Life

As we continue to understand and embrace what it means to live a life in the grey, we bring you up to speed on an important conversation. Author, speaker, research fellow, and workshop leader Lex Schroeder just wrote an insightful response to Elsa Walsh’s op-ed in the Washington Post on, “Why Women Should Embrace a Good Enough Life.” The piece offers an addendum to the conversation started by Sheryl Sandberg for how women can balance work, marriage, and motherhood. Schroeder says:

At 29, unmarried and a little too in love with work, I read [Walsh's] words and breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, there’s more to life than work. We are not cogs in a machine! Thank you for reminding me what’s important. But right behind this reaction came the same thought that’s been tugging on my sleeve for years now: maybe feminism keeps coming back to work because work connects to everything, it is so much a part of American culture, so much of where we spend our time. Maybe women and work is one powerful starting place because work makes visible so many other things we don’t know how to talk about yet. Everywhere I look women are redefining what work is, how it functions, and how work can support other areas of our lives rather than detract from them or cause harm.

Definitely read Schroeder’s full article as she continues to cite several examples of women that are blurring the lines and pushing the conversation forward. She ends with two poignant questions: What more becomes possible if we really see each other with all of our difference? What do we need to do to allow for complexity in the women’s movement and still move forward?

Tell us what you think here!