A Zen Hedonist makes no distinction between work and play. Seeking a work/life balance implies that your life and your work are two separate things. It implies that life is good and that work is bad. It implies that work is not fun and that life isn’t hard work. For a Zen Hedonist, this theory is problematic. Are you seriously saying that a trauma surgeon should find saving lives less fulfilling, less defining, than spending Sunday evening having dinner with her in-laws?
Work can be fun, life can be hard.
Losing the distinction between work and life is necessary for the achievement of Relative Calm. Your Joy comes from your interactions with the world be they recreational, social, business or even conflict.
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You are a sentient being. Your Work is the actions you perform. Your career as an artist, the children you raise, the business you build, your acts of kindness. Your life’s Work is the sum of all your interactions in the world, the difference you have made, the Joy you have created.
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A Zen Hedonist embraces this and engages with work and play with eager passion.
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Do not create your Work in a cave of ghosts.
