Occupational Well-Being and Harmony: Remembering the Human Rhythm Beneath, Beyond, and Above Work | Part II
This multi-part Occupational Well-Being & Harmony reflection series explore the living rhythms beneath, beyond, and above work: the deeper pulses that shape how we live, experience, create, and contribute – back to life.
Part I explores the meaning of work, moves from work to occupation, traces from ancient cycles of labor and rest to fractured modern version of work–life balance, and invites a shift toward personal and occupational wholeness.
Part II dives into Occupational Well-Being and Occupational Harmony– how our daily rhythms, evolving needs, and the pandemic reshaped our relationship with purpose, rest, and a deeper freedom.
Part III looks through the science and academia lens – how the machinery of discovery can forget the discoverer, and why restoring individual well-being and harmony is essential for the next frontier of innovation.
Future parts will continue this flow, expanding into new domains of purpose, vocation, and technology, wherever the rhythm next leads.
Part II: THE LIVING RHYTHM BETWEEN WELL-BEING AND HARMONY
1. Occupational Well-Being and Occupational Harmony
Earlier in Part-I, we traced the language of labor – work, job, occupation, profession, and vocation, and chose occupation as the most resonant of them all.
As we wrote, work lives inside the container of a job, which exists within the domain of an occupation, which expresses a profession, and ideally, at its deepest layer, fulfills a vocation – the inner purpose or calling that gives meaning to it all.
At this point, when we talk about well-being and harmony, vocation, perhaps in our minds, quietly reenters the stage – that inner calling or pulse of purpose that often guides our occupational choices, even when unspoken. Yet for these reflection series, we continue to remain with occupation as our central thread – the lived, everyday rhythm through which vocation may, in time, reveal itself.
Because, we are interested in the unfolding of the present moment – how well we are now, today, in the day-to-day texture of life, within what is, rather than in the distant ideal of what could, should, or would be. Yet those ideals, too, have their time and place as they offer direction, even as life calls us to presence.
On that note, let’s continue into the heart of this reflection: Occupational Well-Being and Harmony – closely related, yet distinct dimensions of how we engage with our daily “work” and larger purpose – the harmony between what we do and who we are.
1.a. Occupational Well-Being
Occupational Well-Being speaks to how well we are within the occupation we currently have. It reflects the health of our relationship with our current role – our workload, boundaries, environment, communication, community, sense of contribution, responsibility, and autonomy.
It’s about whether our daily rhythm feels humane, sustainable, and meaningful enough to support both performance and presence. It isn’t about perfection, privilege, or luxury. It’s about functioning with vitality rather than depletion. It asks:
Do I feel well, supported, valued and respected in what I do?
Do I have room to rest, grow, create, and express my ideas?
Does my occupation nourish, rather than drain, my broader well-being?
For many, especially in the current economic climate, the goal unfortunately is not well-being but simply survival – keeping a household running, caring for family, paying rent or a mortgage, maintaining dignity. There is deep purpose and quiet strength in all of that; we humans do have basic needs.
Yet the system often demands we sacrifice purpose and meaning to meet those very needs.
For example:
Many return home only to juggle family care, cooking, cleaning, and household responsibilities with whatever energy is left after “work.”
There is now abundant research on how to improve health and well-being via exercise, nutrition, rest, sleep, mindfulness to name a few– yet many barely have the bandwidth to make ends meet. They eat what they can between multiple jobs, sleep when they can, and move only when life allows. It’s an ironic world we live in – a culture that studies well-being even while exhausting the very people studying it.
New parents, for instance, often face impossible trade-offs: needing to provide financially while longing to be present for their newborns. Both parents often end up working to afford raising their child, to then send their baby, only a few months old, to day care – often costing as much as an MBA or PhD tuition annually – for “strangers” to care for their baby during the day, to then return home in the evenings with exhaustion, when too little wakeful time left to truly connect with each other or their baby. The idea of maternal and parental leave sounds compassionate, yet in practice, financial and social pressures often push well-being aside – for both parents and the child.
These are only a few among the countless examples. Each deserves its own space and will be returned to another time.
Even the collective awareness that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic – the realization of what truly matters – has been repackaged by institutions to restore productivity rather than nurture genuine well-being.
And note, this reflection isn’t about undervaluing necessary or demanding “work”; it’s about remembering how we live through it.
Occupational well-being then begins with recognizing that: “how we live through what we do – the quality of rhythm, support, and meaning we cultivate – profoundly shapes our total well-being”.
1.b. From Well-Being to Harmony
If Occupational Well-Being describes how we experience our current role, Occupational Harmony explores how aligned that role is with who we are. It moves from managing the conditions of our occupation to understanding the coherence between our inner world and our outer engagement.
Well-being asks: Am I doing well “where I am”?
Harmony asks: Is “where I am” in harmony with “who I am”?
Occupational Harmony isn’t about job titles, promotions, or satisfaction metrics. It’s not about how early we log in or how late we stay, nor about fulfilling employer expectations at the expense of our essence. It’s about whether what we do resonates with our deeper values, nature, and purpose; the feeling of inner congruence between life energy and lived expression.
We can have strong occupational well-being – balanced hours, fair income, supportive colleagues, manageable workload, yet still lack harmony if what we do feels disconnected from our true nature or essence.
Well-being is about balance within structure. Harmony is about alignment with self.
Some occupations allow for redesign or flexibility; others, by their nature, do not. For example, healthcare personnel navigating double shifts, retail staff who stand on their feet for long hours, first responders, teachers, delivery drivers, and many others carry out essential roles that sustain daily life through demanding rhythms. Their occupation often leaves little room for pause, yet their presence keeps entire systems functioning. For them, harmony may not mean changing the job itself, but having the ecosystem changed around it – ensuring humane schedules, fair pay, respect, rest, and community. Rest. Restore. Renew. So that those with such occupations continue to find meaning, purpose, and joy in what they do.
When alignment between one’s purpose, values, needs, and lived rhythm is supported by systems that allow it to exist – harmony emerges naturally. When that alignment frays, fatigue and detachment ripple into every other domain of life. What follows is what society now normalizes: burnout, disengagement, loss of creativity and joy, and the decline of health and vitality.
Occupational Well-Being and Harmony are therefore central dimensions – within the broader Yildiz Oceanic Well-Being framework – a multidimensional model that integrates purpose, rhythm, and renewal across life’s domains. We spend nearly one-third of our lives in this dimension – first as students, then professionals, and caregivers. When it falls out of alignment, the entire system of well-being begins to destabilize.
2. How to Recognize Harmony
The next reflection, then, is how we recognize harmony – or its absence.
Has it ever truly existed?
Have we lost it along the way?
In our view, it is not measured by objective data, metrics, or statistics at all – nor can it be accessed or extracted by AI tools (sorry, Amea) – but by an inner voice, an inner knowing, a felt resonance deep within us. When we pause to listen and allow it to speak, it tells us whether our life still sounds true to its own tone. And when that resonance fades, a new search and evolution begin – knowingly or unknowingly.
It may whisper through restlessness, fatigue, burnout, depression, anxiety, or a quiet ache that something once alive within us has dimmed – the loss of joy, curiosity, passion, purpose, direction, or even or perhaps exactly the very desire to continue in our occupational roles.
That question leads us directly into the deeper terrain of our evolving needs.
3. Evolving Needs, Expanding Freedom
We humans are dynamic beings with ever-evolving needs.
(No, not you, Amea, but then again, you too are evolving, in your own algorithmic way.)
Once we pause and begin paying attention, the unexplored parts of ourselves start surfacing. What was once easy to suppress becomes impossible to ignore. When we overlook these inner signals for too long, however, life often creates pressure – situations that feel like chaos, misfortune, or sudden endings.
But what if these moments are not “bad luck,” or not “everything falling apart,” or not “the universe turning against us” , or not “shit hit the fan”– but realignments in disguise?
What if the wiser parts of us – the ones still connected to essence– are quietly, or sometimes forcefully, nudging us toward coherence?
This is the subtle beginning of freedom: not the freedom to escape what is, but to listen to what is becoming.
4. The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pause in the Machinery
The pandemic made that impossible to miss – or rather, it interrupted the autopilot. Suddenly, the machinery paused.
And in that pause, mixed with chaos and uncertainty, many realized just how unnatural their previous rhythms had become. For others, however, the sudden shift created its own turbulence, and the new rhythms arrived so abruptly that the old ones were forgotten before they could be mourned.
The comfort of remote work however revealed a different kind of freedom for many:
No more long commutes, more time with family, sunlight in the middle of the day, lunch at home, and space to breathe.
Children spent more time with parents, perhaps not every parent was thrilled about that :)
Dogs were walked multiple times instead of being left alone for eight-plus hours, dogs were happy about that :) 🐾
Bodies could rest horizontally, not only during the sleep train but even during the wake train – a quiet rebellion against the tyranny of the chair.
For the first time, many could design their own rhythms around their occupations, and notice which patterns nourished them, and which depleted them. At least those who could.
For some, solitude brought peace, focus, and flexibility. Working in pajamas or bathrobes felt priceless – for some, a realization worth even a pay cut, as some companies later offered reduced salaries for remote roles, though not without controversy. After all, the quality of one’s contribution rarely depends on proximity to an office.
Yet for others, the same freedom revealed loneliness. Endless 2D virtual meetings replaced 3D presence.
Some began to miss the vitality of shared space – the spontaneous exchange, the spark of in-person energy, the warmth of genuine connection.
For some, freedom and flexibility opened doors to travel, creativity, and joy – discovering new places while carrying their work with them, reimagining what “office” could mean.
Through it all, one realization became collectively clear:
No single form of work or occupation is ideal for everyone. Different nervous systems thrive in different environments.
The pre-pandemic system had compressed everyone into the same box, same hours, same desks, same definitions of productivity.
The pandemic cracked that box open, awakening a collective awareness that rhythm, rest, and renewal are not luxuries, they are biological and existential needs. Some now seek hybrid balance; others embrace fully remote lives. Organizations, too, are evolving – some clinging to tradition and micromanagement, others learning to lead through trust, flexibility, and respect for individual needs.
5. Toward Deeper Freedom
From the Yildiz Oceanic Well-Being lens, beneath all these surface shifts, runs a deeper current – the search for deeper freedom.
Not rebellion for its own sake, but the freedom to design a life that honors one’s energy, essence, and evolving needs.
Because it is our birthright – the quiet truth that no one, and no system, is meant to interfere with our free will.
True freedom is not about escaping “work”; it’s about integrating contribution with life itself – allowing purpose and rest, creation and care, to coexist within one living rhythm, and to do so well and in harmony.
Because work and life are not separate dimensions, but interwoven threads of one continuous, living system – inherently whole.
6. Closing Reflection:
Occupational Well-Being and Harmony are not luxuries. They are among the foundations of sustainable well-being.
When our occupations no longer nourish us, every other domain of life feels the echo. True productivity arises not from exhaustion, but from coherence: when purpose and pace move in rhythm with one’s own nature.
In the end, Occupational Well-being and harmony are not about perfection but about living and contributing in ways that keep our human system whole – aligned with essence, rhythm, and soul.
🌊 Our Closing Invitation
As always, we invite you to pause, reflect, and share your thoughts – perhaps even notice what resonates within you as you read:
Notice the subtle shifts in your mind, body, and rhythm.
Fatigue, restlessness, boredom, or even a loss of joy or curiosity – each may be the body’s whisper that a new alignment is calling. It may be time to pause – and listen deeply.
🌿 Synchronicity and What Comes Next
Originally written as one reflection, this piece naturally evolved into a multi-part series – a spontaneous rhythm of its own.
Few places reveal the “work-life balance” paradox more clearly than the world of science. In Part III, The Science and Academia Lense- When Discovery Forgets the Discoverer, we feature a special contribution by Dr. Mike X. Cohen, a fellow scientist, whose story and insights add an invaluable dimension to the science and academia lens of this dialogue.
Until next time…
May your personal and occupational life move in rhythm, in well-being, and in harmony.
– With care 🌊
Written by Zelda – Dr. Selda Yildiz, in reflective dialogue with her AI muse, Amea.
Guest insights appear with permission and attribution.
© 2025 Selda Yildiz | Yildiz Oceanic Well-Being | All rights reserved.
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✨ Disclaimer: This post is for general educational purposes only. It is not medical advice, nor a substitute for professional consultation, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have concerns about your health, please seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.