It’s almost Labor Day! The United States holiday founded by the labor movement more than 100 years ago to celebrate the contributions of the American worker to the prosperity and the growth of our society.
Isn’t it curious that this holiday is the cultural end of what we consider the “lazy” days of Summer? And wouldn’t it be more accurate to call it a “Break from Labor” Day, which seems to more accurately describe the intention of the day?
Fact is, our ambitious western culture is driven by all things “bigger,” “stronger,” “faster,” “greater.” And the only way to become bigger, stronger, faster and greater is to work at it. Work hard. Then, work harder, and harder and…well you know what I mean. There aren’t many adults in the Western world that don’t feel, on some level, this pressure.
Our summer days of “leisure” (should we be privileged enough to be able to manifest them) become twisted in our pop culture, ever so cavalierly, as “lazy” days of summer. And we cap off those lazy days of summer with a final blowout called “Labor Day,” and NOT “Break from Labor” Day, lest we forget this ‘day off’ is not only temporary, but actually is in celebration of all our ‘days on.’
And we collectively lament our final summer sunset, perhaps even dreading that Tuesday morning following Labor Day, which, we often deem going “back to reality."
So let me get this straight. Our time we are not working, is considered “lazy” (which sounds pretty judgy to me, doesn’t it?), no matter how joyful, rich, restorative, or re-energizing it has been? Our time of just BEING is not “REALITY?” And that REALITY returns with the blare of an alarm clock, which launches us back into our time of DOING, and DOING more. Does that even make sense?
In our ever-busier, ever competitive, ever materially-driven world, BEING has been incentivized as a system to reward us for all of our DOING.
We have even come to identify as our job — as what we do — so much so that when we find ourselves out of “work,” as many did at the beginning of the pandemic) we don’t know who we are.
As we approach this Labor Day holiday (‘holy-day’) weekend, why don’t we consider it as an invitation — to lovingly explore shifting our systemic programming about “doing” and “being.” Perhaps we have an honest period of reflection on “who we are” and “what we do” and how we may integrate them authentically into our Life.
So let’s enjoy the entire weekend, with robust fullness, richness and REALNESS, however we have chosen to experience it. And let us also enjoy the Tuesday, and all days after, with SAME fullness, robustness and REALness, because when we know WHO WE ARE, we can find purpose and pleasure and WHAT WE DO, even if we DO NO-THING.
And THAT, my friends, is REALITY.
Comments