A few years ago, I was involved in a group conversation about work and careers. One of the men, in his mid-late twenties, was asked what he did. He simply smiled and said, “Not much,” offering no further explanation. (It later came to my knowledge that he worked part-time helping disabled children.)
At the time, I was somewhat of a workaholic, clocking in sixty-hour weeks. I, and several of the other young professionals in our group, were taken aback by his casual remark. We were all what you’d consider “upwardly mobile,” and it was difficult for us to understand someone else’s deliberate rejection of such a lifestyle.… {Read more}