Chapter 10: Finding Balance by Authoring Your Own Life

It is very ironic that the month that I am writing this chapter is the month where I am in the midst of the most amount of stress I have experienced since starting graduate school. Balance does not describe my life. I am “juggling flaming chain-saws: (Marshall et al., 2012). My dissertation, job search, and personal life each need 100% percent of my attention; however, there is only one of me. During this time it is important for me to strive for balance in order to have peace and to do my work with excellence. To achieve personal and professional balance, I first acknowledge that all aspects of my identity are important and that sometimes they will conflict. Secondly, I must practice self-authorship. Self-authorship, the practice of making decisions based on my own priorities, has lead me to living a balanced and authentic life. In this chapter, I will discuss my identity, the meaning of self-authorship and how being my authentic self in the academe helps maintain work life balance.