Sep 2, 2019
I just googled Labor Day because to be honest I haven’t known or really ever cared why we get this holiday. Like many others, the importance of this day was only known to me in the fact that we get a long weekend. A long weekend is room enough for celebration, so- done.
Though the history of Labor Day seems something to discern, like all history, I like the idea that today we celebrate the power of collective intent and action. We are better when we are together. We need each other, and I think many people working around one goal is a golden thing.
Relying on one another is challenging. It takes gasps of vulnerability to admit you can still learn, that you need help, that someone else’s skill is better than yours, that you were over confident, that you messed up. The best work environments are places that make room for the skill of vulnerability and foster admitting weakness as a strength. The best life environments are like this too, at least that’s how I see it.
We enjoyed the past week working around one goal with Gordon’s family. Mornings in the art studio, afternoons in the garden, and evenings around the table when easy food and sometimes hard conversation was shared. Pour the wine, serve up with the good and bad. We covered territory, some high peaks and desperate lows.
If your family dynamic is simple, kiss your folks, because I think that for most, family is precarious and difficult. And I can’t say much, because like a wobbly sticky game of jenga, when I try to stack the words on family, they are unbalanced and they collapse and topple over.
The goal of supporting one another is a simple one, but it’s the thing we all need most. I was so blessed to see Gordon with his family. I was blessed to find myself in a room where the intent was to, finally, labor together instead of laboring apart. It was work that paid.
We want to celebrate things we have fought hardest for, everyday. We like celebrating the things that come easy now, too. I still don’t know anything about Labor Day, or really care. But, we all know I’ve got an affinity for spending long weekends together- it’s real nice! Or, to quote wiki, “it is essential for the workings of society.”