How do you interact with the various life domains that you experience each day? Do you carry experiences from one to another, or are you able to segregate each domain so it remains untouched by the others?
We are used to thinking of life in segregated ‘domains’. You have a ‘family’ life, a ‘work’ life, a ‘social’ life, a ‘spiritual’ life, a ‘love’ life…sometimes even a ‘secret’ life! Our culture over the past century has encouraged this view to the point that we often think of ourselves as having separate personalities, or ‘personas’, depending on the situation. Certainly there are different rules of behaviour depending on the circumstances and relationships with others, but does that necessarily make us different as individuals? Perhaps by attempting to define the boundaries around our various life experiences, we hope to somehow control what happens within those borders. In reality, however, is the separation between our various ‘lives’ only superficial, primarily affecting how we behave or respond to others? Experiences in one ‘life’ tend to spill over into the other ‘lives’, no matter how much we try to control the effects within each domain.
I’ve found many studies and papers that look at the roles, behaviours, attitudes and responses of individuals within the specific parameters defined by one of our many domains: workplace, home, social groups, faith, etc. There are few studies, though, looking at how events and experiences in one of these domains affect us in the other domains. This project is looking for those links through your own stories, and observations. Perhaps by sharing our own experiences, we can work together to build bridges between our many life domains and look for clues to an integrated life.
Share your views, your experiences and your observations by participating in the Work Life Stories Project: http://worklifestories.wordpress.com/
Business/IT Alignment 