My View: A Reflection on Work-Life Balance

I wear two hats. I love both my hats dearly. The one of motherhood is worn and faded. It feels like jeans — washed 100 times — like a second skin, comfort and home and happiness. That hat is sometimes covered in peas and carrots and often has crayon demarcations of handsome princes riding horses under a nostalgic stick and circle sun, drawn by tiny hands still learning their way in the world.

The hat of the professional woman in me is cleaned and pressed, sharp lines and perfection. It is woven with threads of doing well by doing good for the world, of leaving the profession and our planet a little better than I found it.

The problem is both of the hats refuse to fit at the same time. The mom hat gets carrot goop on the professional hat. The professional hat pokes my kiddos when I give hugs with its sharp, prestigious corners. I used to think I could snip a little here, add a little there and somehow Frankenstein-out a hat that I could wear all the time, the best pieces of both genres of finery. I have now realized this is impossible. If I changed either hat, it would not be complete.

Read the rest of Dr. Singh’s piece at ADA News.

~Dr. Amisha Singh

My View: A reflection on work life balance. ADA News. 49(19):4-5. Copyright © 2018 American Dental Association. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

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