Watching Severance on Apple TV+ got me thinking—why do we still treat work and life as two opposing forces? The show follows employees at a fictional biotechnology corporation that have undergone “severance,” a procedure that ensures they have no memories of the outside world while at work and retain no memories of their job when they leave. The dystopian take on work-life balance makes one wonder, what would the utopic opposite look like?
In earlier times, we had stronger community anchors such as church, school, and neighborhoods, which allowed the workplace to be cleanly separated from one’s personal life. But today, many people live severed from those traditional communities, and as a result, more pressure is placed on work to become a source of connection, identity, and meaning.
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