Sunday Purrs: When Work Becomes Play

I nabbed the photo above from Richard Branson’s Facebook page because I loved the quote so much. And okay, I couldn’t help embellish it a little, because how cool would it be if Allegra and Ruby actually got to hang with Richard Branson?

But back to the quote. I consider myself fortunate that I love what I do for a living, and much of my work feels like play. I love working from home, and being my own boss. But with all this freedom come some challenges when it comes to what is known in popular parlance as “work life balance.” I can’t remember the last time I worked an eight hour day, and I definitely can’t remember the last time when I took an entire weekend off. But does it really matter, when I love my work?

Richard Branson’s quote made me realize that it doesn’t. Work or play – it really is all living. What does matter is that you do everything with a sense of joy. Robert Frost once said “When work becomes play, and play becomes your work, your life unfolds.” This has certainly been true for me – and I consider myself very fortunate that I’ve been able to build this life for myself.

This does not mean that you should become one-dimensional. As much as I love writing and spending time online connecting with my readers, it can’t be all I do. There is more to life than sitting in front of a computer. Ultimately, it is about balance. But perhaps, that balance is easier to achieve when you stop compartmentalizing your life, and instead, work on harmonizing all aspects of your life so that you don’t have to think about it in terms of work or play, busy time or down time, time spent online or offline, but rather, you think of all of it as an expression of your soul’s desire – and it all becomes living.

There are a lot of different ways to go about living your life with a sense of joy. Richard Branson has written numerous books about how he became successful in business and in life. Your definition of success may not be the same as Mr. Branson’s, but his advice applies to more than just building a successful business. If you need a jump start to living a joyful life, consider the following quotes attributed to Mr. Branson:

• I enjoy every single minute of my life.
• The majority of things that one could get stressed about, they’re not worth getting stressed about.
• I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.
• There is noone to follow, there is nothing to copy.
• If you can indulge in your passion, life will be far more interesting than if you’re just working.
• I love what I do because every single day I’m learning something new.

If work and play aren’t quite the same for you, start small. If you could do anything, what would it be? Take one small step toward it. It may be as simple as connecting with one other person who is already doing what you’d like to be doing, and taking them out to lunch.

I realize that Allegra, Ruby and I will probably never actually hang out with Richard Branson, but hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Do you find it challenging to balance work and play? Can you see yourself making changes so the line between work and play blurs to where it’s all living?