Three‐dimensional living

Abstract

....Tackling the topic of how one should live is not easy. I have been thinking about and trying to practice some of these ideas for many years with modest success. The key here is the word modest; in many respects the struggle continues. It is tough to put some of these ideas on the printed page because by writing them, there is a certain call to accountability. Yet I persist, knowing that I do not have it all figured out but wanting to share with you where I am in the journey. I hope some of these ideas will spur you on in your own journey.As a visual person, I find it helpful to use metaphors to help further my understanding. The adage a "picture is worth a thousand words" certainly fits with my experience of reality. Metaphors have the ability to capture relatively complex constructs (Rule, 1983). Thus, I begin by proposing a metaphor for the way we live. This metaphor is based on physical properties of matter. Basically, I see our lives as units of being with a structure that includes the dimensions of length, width, and depth. The properties of being are such that we can be separated and analyzed for our unique personal qualities. In this respect, we are like billiard balls in motion on a table with separate boundaries and connections with others that reflect straightforward cause and effect relationships. Psychological studies often reflect this perspective on personal reality. At another level, however, we fuse together and operate more like waves than like individual units. This collective identity is often captured through studies in the areas of sociology or political science. It is not that one view is more correct than the other. In fact, we are capable of both individual action and collective identity. A recent article by Lindh and Dahlin (2000) from Sweden illustrates how these different perspectives have developed (and are developing) in Europe and in North America.

Work Life Balance: What DO You Mean? The Ethical Ideology Underpinning Appropriate Application

“…However, whereas situationists will seek a contextual appropriateness for moral decisions, subjectivists assert that moral evaluations ultimately depend on personal perspectives (Kernes & Kinnier, 2005). Amundson's (2001) role balance seems to resonate with the subjectivist view. His role balance looked at the total role system of an individual rather than an atomized view of the various roles within the total role system.…”

“…He described "problematic configurations that emerge during a lifetime of experiences [as] the more common characteristics associated with a loss of balance" (p. 118). Amundson saw this life balance as encompassing many areas of life reflected in sets of contrasting factors: work and play, physical and spiritual, social and personal, and emotional and intellectual (Poehnell & Amundson, as cited in Amundson, 2001).…”