Ah, the wonder of summer… but is there not also the magic of fall, the power of winter and the beautiful awakening of spring? Summer ends and school begins anew. But for many people in our workaholic fragmented society, the reality that summer is over means once again a lost of paradise; and it’s back to work, more discipline, less time for one’s life outside of work and further suffering. * Even our President, facing an ever rapidly declining domestic and world state of affairs, spent August on his ranch. Ah, the wonder of summer!

For many past cultures, the fall was a time of celebration, a time to rejoice the harvest of the “growing days.” It was a season to acknowledge the balance of light and dark and an opportunity to look within one’s self, and one’s relationships, for the balance that is so necessary for the harmony of family and community.

Pono… a simple Hawaiian word but one that our culture has little use for—balance and harmony. “If it is good, if it is in balance, if it is right, if it helps, if it is righteous, if it corrects, if it is responsible, if it is caring, if it honors, if it is humble, if it is peaceful, if it is neat, if it is proper and if it is well mannered, it is pono.” (Ho’opono, Lee and Willis)

Balance rules the day. And with the balance of self comes harmonious relationships that open the door to a life of love, power, joy and happiness. But how balanced are you within, and how balanced is your life? And how about your relationships, are they in harmony? Or has the harmony been disrupted? Which of your following relationships are in harmony or in disorder?

• Spouse/Partner, Ex-Spouse/Partner
• Children
• Birth or Adopted Family
• Extended Family
• Friends
• Nature—the Land, Sea, Sky and the Seasons
• Nature—the Animals, Fish, Birds, etc.
• Work/Student Relationships
• Neighbors
• Community

It is so very important to prevent and to heal conflicts and other troublesome happenings. And if the harmony has been disrupted, it is extremely important to be able to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Begin anew today a life of harmonious relationships. And the reward you ask… simply paradise, a life of joy and happiness.

“In the last decade an annual Labor Day ritual has emerged: bemoaning the national workload. The story has a thousand angles. The United States surpasses workaholic Japan in average hours. Dot-commers go 24/7. The family dinner has disappeared. The working poor are holding three and four jobs just to make ends meet. Neither the renewed commitment to family and community after Sept. 11 nor the presence of a committed leisure enthusiast in the White House seems to have had an impact. Worker overload has felt like an intransigent problem.

The story of the overworked American… has legs largely because working hours have risen for three decades. According to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute, between 1973 and 1998 average annual hours increased from 1,720 to 1,898. Recognition of the problem became widespread, as armies of "work-family consultants" counseled corporations on how to achieve "balance." Most large companies put flexible work options on the books. The academic literature mushroomed. But these changes hardly made a dent.

Why has overwork been so persistent? One reason is that it is generally more profitable for firms to employ a small work force for long hours. The benefits costs are lower, employers can be more selective about whom they hire, and hours are a simple (if inaccurate) proxy for commitment. Employees who dislike the long hours have typically had to change jobs, or even occupations, to gain free time.

We've heard a lot in the last year from national leaders about the need for sacrifice and community. Surely allocating work more equitably should be part of any change. A creative policy might turn these worthy sentiments into reality. Employees on reduced schedules could be authorized to collect partial unemployment insurance; Congress could give tax breaks to firms that enact work redistribution.

A year ago, such proposals might have been dismissed as unrealistic. But the financial scandals of recent months have created an opening for a more comprehensive questioning of corporate behavior. As long as we're scrutinizing the relationship between companies and their shareholders and pensioners, how about looking at the inflexible work norms imposed on workers?

During the last six months, a national "Take Back Your Time Day" movement has gained momentum, urging Americans to take the day off on Oct. 24, 2002. The date, coming nine weeks before the end of the year, symbolizes the additional nine weeks Americans work in comparison to Continental Western Europeans.

In the end, even more than work schedules, incomes and employment are at stake: our choices affect the rest of the world. For the last half century, America's tendency has been to consume more, rather than work less. This propensity to work is central to why the United States is among the world's wealthiest nations as well as the unrivaled leader in resource depletion, carbon-dioxide emissions and environmental impact. By next Labor Day, perhaps, the message will be that we're slowing down, sharing the work and consuming a little less. Juliet Schor is a professor of sociology at Boston College and the author of "The Overworked American. The New York Times, September 2, 2002."

October 2002