The Reality Of Duality

Everybody has two different personalities in life. One is our outside personality, the one we present to the world. We are usually more formal, more dressed up, suits and ties and fancy dresses for work, hair and makeup and jewelry just so.

Our other personalities are revealed when we come back from the stress and rigors of work or social obligations. When we walk in the door of our own homes we can finally relax.

This is the time we revel in the inner, more private side of ourselves usually only seen by our families, best friends, and neighbors.

The dichotomy of duality starts early.

We are conditioned from childhood to be different, from the first day of school. Schools usually have some kind of dress code. We are conditioned at an early age to present ourselves differently in public than in private.

I remember coming home from work, the first thing I always did was rip my tie off. This was an old habit. I used to do the same thing when I went to Catholic grade school.

Back then, the Catholic school dress code required all students, boys, and girls, to wear uniforms, including ties for boys. The tie was gone the minute I walked in the door.

I am not sure what the dress codes are now. My guess is they are slightly more relaxed, but anybody that wears a uniform can’t wait to change clothes the minute they get home.

We change our personalities then too.

Even after we grow up. If we work in an office, in a factory, or as a checkout person, the first thing we do is get out of those uncomfortable uniforms. Once safely at home, away from those prying, judgemental eyes of our work or school superiors we can finally relax.

There is a clear and definite demarcation line in our lives between our public and private personas.

When we are at home, we feel more relaxed. We are able to kick back and chill out. This is the perfect time to indulge ourselves a little, maybe have a snack, check out a favorite tv show or blast some music and catch up on the latest with our wives, husbands, and children.

We all get a chance to vent about our work hassles or office triumphs, upcoming school assignments, and events, or just catch up on neighborhood gossip. We can play with our dogs or cats who are always happy to see us. We are finally able to draw a breath and just be ourselves.

This is the time we get to truly enjoy our leisure time and feel free from the stress and critical evaluations of others. It is a good feeling, even though we know there are always chores to do, food to cook, or maybe home repairs or garden work to attend to.

But the whole point is we are now free to work at our own pace and have more control over our lives in the way we dress, the way we talk, and the way we think. Especially the way we think.

We are free to express our true personalities and talk about our hopes and plans and dreams. We are just generally more relaxed. Today the trend is changing. More and more people are choosing to work from home.

Employers desperate to keep key employees happy and cut office maintenance costs without losing productivity are even more amenable to this change in the dichotomy between the work world and home life.

Working at home has its own pitfalls, as we have to establish boundaries and be able to focus on our work despite interruptions from well-meaning friends or relatives who think we suddenly have unlimited free time.

Definitely not the case. But more and more people today are choosing to work from home if they have the kind of jobs that enable them to do so. In the future, automation will create more and more of these jobs.

The elimination of the dreaded commute gives us more time to get our work done and still be able to take a break or a snack whenever we want to. Walk the dog, meditate, ponder over work issues or greet the kids when they get home from school, especially the younger ones.

In other words, we feel freer, more content, and happier with our lives. Working from home eliminates the artificial boundaries of our former dual personalities.

How about you? Would you work from home if you could?

I do, and I have never felt freer. Try it, you’ll like it!