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Behind the Slash
By Sarah Glick
The Slash Effect.1 No, it has nothing to do with electronic
discovery, and it is not an ephedrine-free weight loss
method. It is the latest wave in the work/life solution sea. Simply put, it is a phrase used to describe the choice many
professionals are currently making to simultaneously engage in more than one career. So, one could be an accountant/painter. Or, perhaps a physician/carpenter. Or, a musician/actor/dancer—the infamous “triple threat.” Or, similarly threatening, an
attorney/cross-bow hunter/flautist. Well, you get the idea.
Theoretically, the number and combination of vocations is limitless. And, one’s slash could include titles or roles not typically accompanied by a salary, like longshoreman/father, or executive/choir member, or farmer/ballerina/political activist/under-water basket weaver. (Sorry. It’s easy to be carried away with these things. Go ahead. I know you want to try it.) As you might expect, my introduction to this concept got me to thinking about what other jobs or roles I might use to create my very own slash effect.
If, in the span of your career as an attorney, you have never wondered—strike that—fantasized about another career, I envy you. (And frankly, I find your veracity more than a little suspect.) The truth, I think, is that we all have our Walter Mitty moments. Remember him? (I can see the wheels turning in your head.) Think all the way back to your freshman lit class. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is the James Thurber story about a very ordinary man living a very plain life and daydreaming about all the adventure he wishes characterized his existence. A proofreader by trade, Mitty fantasizes about being a naval commander, an important emergency room surgeon, a murderous criminal and a wartime fighter pilot. A few moments into each imagined scenario, Mitty is beckoned back to his mundane reality.
On my most Mitty-esque days, it is tempting to conclude that—occupationally speaking—I simply chose poorly. That perhaps my life’s work would have more meaning if I had opted instead to be a social worker. Or, that my too often squelched sense of adventure would be satisfied if I had gone into journalism. Maybe the change I wish to see in the world could be somehow effectuated if I were shaping minds in a classroom somewhere. Of course, I have always wanted to learn to fly a plane….
On days where my head is a little less in the clouds, I recognize that my problem is not necessarily a wrong vocational election, but that the title on my business card does not tell the whole story. For better or worse, I have a handful of innate abilities, and a bit of education and training that have equipped me to do exactly what I am doing. And, objectively speaking, my chosen profession is one of honor and importance. The Mitty moments constitute a reminder, though, that I have other aptitudes and interests.
Which brings me to the thing I appreciate about the slash—its capacity to help me express and acknowledge that I have other pursuits and priorities besides the practice of law. Sure, it may not be practical to sign my letters—Sarah J. Glick, attorney/amateur musician/stupendous aunt/armchair movie reviewer/ sometimes runner/ compulsive cleaner—but perhaps that is not the point. Maybe the value of the Slash Effect is that it has made me stop and consider my own contentment. Contentment. An interesting word, fraught with meaning and implication in any context, including career development. In considering the notion of vocational contentment, the synonym I like best is satisfied, or the definition that means the end of desire, want or need. This contentment comes, I think, when I have acknowledged in some way all of my interests and priorities.
To be certain the Slash Effect could easily reach a point of absurdity, inducing the occupational equivalent of multiple personality disorder. At best, an over ambitious “Slasher” may find him or herself simply increasing the number of hours and responsibilities in his or her already demanding work and personal life, resulting in no more fulfillment than Walter Mitty found in his fabrications. At worst, the overused Slash could bring to bear the incompetence and slipshod work that trying to do too many things at once almost inevitably brings.
But that is where the “balance” part of work/life balance comes in to play. Used well, the Slash is nearly the essence of work/life balance. (Take notice, there’s even one in the name.) The consideration of and participation in ALL the things that give our lives meaning is work/life balance. So, examine your list and pay attention to your daydreams and ponder what you might put behind your slash….
1. The Slash Effect has recently been made a popular point of discussion in career development forums by Marci Alboher’s book
One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success (Warner Business: 2007).
About The Author
Sarah J. Glick is a lawyer and Work/Life Balance Committee member practicing in the areas of civil litigation, health and employment law at Scoggins & Cross PLLC. She was admitted into the Oklahoma bar in 2001 as well as the Northern and Western Districts of Oklahoma and the 10th Circuit of Appeals. She received her undergraduate degree from Southern Nazarene University and her J.D. from Oklahoma City University School of Law.
Behind the Slash
Published 79 OBJ 1125 (May 10, 2008) |
