Day of the Workaholic: An Existential Choice Between Escape and Vocation There is a day in the calendar of unofficial holidays that brings a smile to some and a bitter smile to others. The Day of the Workaholic. Some see it as an opportunity for irony about themselves, while others see it as a chance to justify their obsession with work one more time. But behind this humorous name lies a deep existential choice that each of us makes every day, often without realizing it. A choice between running away from ourselves and facing ourselves, between filling the void and making sense of it, between work as a curse and work as a calling. The Workaholic as an Archetype: Who Is He Really? In the public consciousness, the workaholic is a person who cannot rest, who measures their value by the number of hours worked, who sacrifices family, health, and personal life. But this is only the surface layer, a behavioral portrait. If we dig deeper, the workaholic is a person who has found a way to be through work. Their identity is inextricably linked to the work they do. In this sense, workaholism is not an addiction, but a form of self-realization. However, the boundary between these two states is almost invisible, and it is here that the existential choice begins. Existential psychology asserts that a person is constantly faced with four givennesses: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. And work becomes one of the tools with which we try to cope with these givennesses. Work gives us a sense of control, structure, purpose, and connection with others. It helps us avoid the fear of emptiness. But this also makes work potentially dangerous: if it becomes the only source of meaning, we find ourselves trapped. Running from Freedom: When Work Becomes a Shield For many workaholics, work is a way to avoid themselves. By filling every hour with tasks, they avoid questions for which there are no ready answers. Who am I? Why do I live? What do I feel? Silence is scarier than ... Read more