The 'Rainbow-Colored World' I Discovered After Meeting an Alien Who Didn't Speak My Language, Having Been Obsessed with a 'Black-and-White Game'

It seems there is a concept called 'Work-Like Balance'.

Hmm? Work-Like?
Not work-life?

Curious, I looked it up and found it's a new concept for working styles proposed by the job media 'doda'.

"Work is not limited to just a job, but 'things you feel you must do' in your daily life. To improve satisfaction in life, the goal is to increase the proportion of 'things you feel you want to do (Like)' and balance them with 'things you feel you have no choice but to do (Work)."

I see, a balance between 'things you must do' and 'things you want to do'.
I had never been conscious of my daily life in that way before.
Suddenly interested, I immediately took the 'Work-Like Balance Diagnosis'.

I faced my inner self while answering the questions displayed on the screen.
"For me, my part-time job leans toward Like."
"But housework is almost entirely Work!"
While carefully taking stock of each one, I realized a certain fact.
"Oh, have I been desperately trying to make the 'Work' in front of me closer to 'Like' my whole life?"

1. The Origin is My Days as a Securities Trader

That origin lies in my 'securities trader days'.
Until I gave birth, I was a salesperson at a securities firm. My job was to help individual clients with asset management.
My morning started at 5:00 AM checking the market, and I commuted with a newspaper in hand. On the way, I would perform high-speed mental simulations of my approach to clients, and I would be at the office by 7:30 AM. From then until I left at 7:00 PM, it was a whirlwind of sales on a floor filled with shouting. Even after work, I would handle entertainment, and upon returning home, I would review the day's market.
I was literally spending every day in a dizzying blur with no time to rest.
Hearing this, what do you think?
Would you think, "Wow, that sounds exhausting. I definitely wouldn't want to work like that"?
However, at the time, I was actually throwing myself into this way of working by choice.
For a salesperson, numbers are life. Numbers are personality. The one who gets the numbers wins. For me, that was the most exciting 'game' imaginable.
To win, I would do anything, no matter how gritty. And I would win.
That was my reason for living back then, and truly the pinnacle of 'Like'.
Of course, it wasn't 'Like' from the very beginning.
At first, I didn't know anything and was just desperately clinging to it as 'Work'. However, in that process, a proactive desire to 'study more!' or 'make better approaches!' emerged, and before I knew it, I think 'Work' had transformed into 'Like'.
Having poured all my energy into that game (work) of deciding things in black and white with logic and numbers, I left the front lines when I gave birth.
For me, that was also the moment I was forced to let go of the 'thing I wanted to do' that was most important in my life.

2. From a 'World of Black and White Numbers' to a 'Gray World'

After giving birth to my eldest daughter, the world I lived in changed completely.
I honestly thought, "Is this really the same Japan?"
Until then, I had been making over 100 calls a day and exchanging words like a whirlwind, but today I hadn't uttered a single word since morning. I used to debate market outlooks on equal footing with colleagues, but now, in front of me, was a baby who didn't understand my language.
Above all, the 'deciding things in black and white with logic and numbers' that I loved so much didn't work at all.
If there was any inconvenience, she would just cry. I didn't know what the correct answer was, and there were no results in terms of numbers. My human rights and convenience were completely ignored.
It was as if I had wandered into a 'gray world' with no exit.

Because I hadn't spoken properly all day, I couldn't even get out the simple phrase "I'll take a bag, please" at the supermarket checkout.
"Uh, um, a, bag..."
Fumbling for words as I forgot how to use my throat muscles, I was overcome with self-pity and a fierce sense of loneliness, as if I had been completely cut off from society.

For me back then, housework and childcare were 100% 'Work'. With all 24 hours of my day consumed by them, I was gradually being driven into a corner.

3. The Day I Re-framed Childcare from a 'Duty' to an 'RPG'

Living through those days at my limit, I decided to stop caring.
First, I decided to admit that "I hate housework and I'm bad at it." Housework is completely 'Work' for me. If I don't want to do it, I should just slack off thoroughly.
I rely on retort pouches and pre-made side dishes without hesitation. Cleaning is only done to the extent that it's safe for the child. I made a drawer and bookshelf just for me, a 'sanctuary where it's okay to make as much of a mess as I want.' Dishes? I won't die if I wash them tomorrow. My own mother frowned at me, but who cares? Protecting myself is the priority.
Then, what about childcare?
My child is precious. I truly wish for her to be happy in the future. That's why childcare is 'Work' where I absolutely cannot cut corners.
...Wait, hold on?
If I could transform this 'Work' into 'Like' that I could truly enjoy, wouldn't I, my child, and everyone be happy?
From that day on, I stopped treating my child just as a 'child' who needed to be protected.
I decided to enjoy this daily life together with her as an equal 'alien' who had newly arrived in my world. I re-framed childcare not as a 'duty,' but as an 'RPG' where I explore an unknown world with my child as my partner.
And then, what do you know?
From that day on, childcare gradually changed its form into a 'thing I want to do'.
My child taught me, who only knew the game of numbers, the overwhelming fun of this world.
I didn't know that the time spent waiting patiently at a railroad crossing could be so exciting.
I didn't know that such brave and cute flowers were blooming on the side of the road.
I didn't know that when you look up at the night sky, countless stars twinkle besides the moon.
I didn't know that ladybugs walk busily here and there in early spring, or that pill bugs move surprisingly fast.
I never imagined how tense the air would become the moment a praying mantis catches a grasshopper, or that a day would come when I could find a swallowtail caterpillar so adorable.
And I knew nothing of the fact that my children were living in such a wonderful 'vibrant world'.
The moment childcare changed from 'Work' to 'Like,' my life changed completely.
From a 'life chasing only the black and white of numbers' to a 'life where I can fully enjoy the trivial colors around me'.
That was the moment the gray world turned into a 'rainbow-colored world'.

4. Three Approaches to Turning 'Work' into 'Like'

Now, when I face daily 'Work' like housework, childcare, part-time jobs, or PTA, I don't just endure it. I have acquired the skill to change my own perspective and turn it into 'Like'.
I would like to introduce three approaches I practice to turn daily 'Work' into 'Like'.

① Forcibly drag 'Work' into your own 'Like' territory
When faced with the 'Work' of "I have to let my child play in the park," my feet inevitably feel heavy. Even if I go to the trouble of taking them, if the child looks bored, I get angry too.
So, when I'm struck by a sense of duty, I first rethink the purpose: Why am I trying to take my child to the park right now?
If the purpose is to move their body outside and build stamina, the destination doesn't have to be the neighborhood park.
For example, walking side-by-side with my child to a slightly distant library and reading books I love there can also fulfill the purpose. If I'm in the mood for a casual trip, I can just turn it into a 'special outing' within a range that isn't a burden on the child.
Can I somehow bring the imposed 'Work' into my own 'Like' territory? When I try rewriting the rules of the game like that, I surprisingly often find good alternatives.

② Try stepping just your toes into the other person's world of 'likes'
"My child loves bugs..."
For a mother who is terrible with bugs, dealing with a bug-catching boy must be pure 'Work' (penance). I was like that too. I hated bugs, but my son loved them. Naturally, I was dragged along to catch bugs every day.
To turn this hellish 'Work' into even a little bit of 'Like,' I started by opening my son's insect picture book with him. I also had a curiosity to "know the world my son is seeing."
Picture books are good. You can quickly skip pages that are truly unacceptable.
As I flipped through the pages, I was glued to a photo of a certain butterfly. What beautiful wing colors. It was such a stunning beauty that I thought, "Does such a vivid blue really exist in the natural world?"
As I turned the page further, a swallowtail caterpillar caught my eye. When I read the explanation intently, it turned out I could easily raise them at home.
At that moment, I thought, "I want to raise a swallowtail caterpillar myself!"
The 'Work' of bug catching had tilted toward 'Like'.
Once it reached this point, the rest was fast. I was the one with shining eyes inviting my son, "Let's go catch a swallowtail caterpillar!" and I searched for mandarin orange branches with my eyes wide open.

Remove your preconceptions and try stepping just your toes into the other person's world of 'likes.' Then, unexpectedly, your own 'Like' will expand. A child's 'likes' are the best trigger to open doors to the unknown for me.

③ Give up on perfection and put all your energy into your own 'Like'
I am bad at housework. No matter how much I try, housework remains 'Work' and can never become something I want to do.
If that's the case, I decided not to feel guilty about slacking off on housework.
I rely on pre-made side dishes without hesitation and create my own 'sanctuary (drawer) where it's okay to make as much of a mess as I want.' By shrinking the volume of 'Work' to the limit like that, I pour the remaining time and brain energy 100% into what I really want to do (like working hard on catching bugs with my child).

5. Conclusion

"What is really important to me?"
Sometimes, I almost think about it deeply.
But my thoughts are immediately drowned out by my child's innocent voice.
"Mom! Let's play!"
Ah, there was no need to think deeply, I smile.
The most important thing to me is my child, and my number one 'Like' is enjoying the world every day with these children.
Back when I was a securities trader, I turned 'Work' into 'Like' and pushed forward using my own effort and logic as weapons. But the world of childcare was an unknown game where that logic of mine didn't work even one millimeter.
My child, who couldn't even speak, taught me a 'new way to color life' that replaced arguments and numbers. The adorableness of a swallowtail, the thrill of a mantis hunt, and the beauty of the world.
In the game called life, many 'Work' tasks will continue to fall upon me.
But as long as I have the ingenuity to amuse myself, I can turn any 'Work' into my own 'Like' at any time.
Today, too, I will live on, repainting this gray world into a vivid rainbow with my lovable little partners.