Labor Day: Celebrate your Work and some old fashioned Values

You might think I am crazy, but this is my dream:

I will know that the Hawaiian value of Ho‘ohana has caught on in the world, when the way that people celebrate Labor Day dramatically changes: It no longer will be a day off, but a day that everyone wants to be at work as a statement of the joy it brings them.

At Virtualosophy, my good buddy Stacy Brice, the brilliant mind and moxie-spirit behind AssistU, shared these wonderful quotes in an article she called Rethinking Labor Day:

“The meaning behind Labor Day speaks to a desire to believe that our work has significance, that it contributes to the common good. The way it was recognized built solidarity among workers as people marched side by side and then got to know each other’s families. As workers forged deeper relationships that extended beyond the work site, people cared more for each other and were more willing to work together for improvements to each other’s work lives.”

“Use the holiday as an opportunity to make genuine human connections with the people who serve you throughout the day, and talk to your children about these efforts, impressing upon them the fact that every human being is valuable and worthy of love and respect. With your children, make a list of all the people whose jobs make your life better and ways that you can show those people love and respect. Continue this conversation throughout the year.”

That will be a magnificent start to making my Ho‘ohana dream come true!

From the essay I had written for the holiday a year ago:

What is Labor Day really supposed to be? This Labor Day, let’s spend some time thinking about those good old fashioned values connected to meaningful and worthwhile work. Let’s think of how good we feel when we work long and hard with focus and self-discipline to achieve goals which stretch and challenge us. Let’s commit ourselves to stellar, admirable work ethic again, to the honor, dignity, and respect of good work. Ho‘ohana. To work with passion and with purpose. A work where no other intention or motivation will do. Diligence. Deliberance. Discipline. Focus. Tenacity. Resilience. Kuleana. To honor one’s personal responsibilities through the expression of work. To connect that responsibility with one’s job so it evolves into a role. A practical role. A meaty role. A meaningful role held toward noble accountability. Ho‘ohanohano. To conduct oneself with distinction and professionalism in the nobility and honor of work. To hold the effort of others in the highest esteem, and to have your own work’s effort highly regarded. Pono. The work which is the right thing to do. Work which gives you a sense of pride. Work you stand tall for, kū pono. Work ethic at its best. Work integrity at its finest. ‘Ike loa. To learn at work and through work. To learn by doing, and by exerting the effort which taps into one’s curiosity and imagination. To learn through the effort which tests one’s limits and expands their capacity. To reach for mastery, for wisdom. ‘Imi ola. Work which adds texture, form, shape, constancy and identity to your life. Work which grounds you and keeps you sanely centered. Work which adds vibrancy to life, making you feel very energetic and alive. Mahalo. To live in thankfulness for the certainty that there are always fruits reaped from our labor; that it always counts for something, and that it is so self-empowering. Gratitude that work is the clay you’ll sculpt into a personal legacy. Aloha. Work which celebrates the human spirit, and the incredible capacity we are born with. No other species on the planet is born with the gifts we possess as members of the human race, and to those to whom much has been given, much is expected. Lōkahi. Work which brings people together in common purpose, and in community. The work of ‘Ohana, family, and the work of teams. Work which collaborates, cooperates, unifies and brings harmony to our humanity. Work which invites diversity, and welcomes its strengthening. Kākou. Work which is inclusive, and which calls for common vocational language so we communicate well and in a bonding camaraderie. The work for many hands which makes the individual burden seem lighter, and which easily overcomes individual obstacles. Alaka‘i. Work which calls for initiative, for innovation and creativity, and for the bravery of leadership. Courageous work which charts a new course, in which everything is impossible only until the first person does it, and then reaches back for us so we may follow. Mālama. Work in stewardship, where we protect and honor all we have worth caring about. The work of servant leadership, where we care, and we care deeply. Kūlia i ka nu‘u. The work of big goals, bigger objectives, over-arching strategies and larger-than-life achievements. Work which settles for nothing short of excellence, for excellence is never an accident: It is always intentional, and it always demands more than the norm. Kalā hiki ola. We create our best possible future, and we do it through work. We can do the wonderful work which will assure a future worth living for, one worth creating for our children, our grandchildren, and all the children who will walk the earth one day, loving us for what we taught them about the value of work, so they can feel the same joy in it we did.

As Chris Bailey suggests, we could also call this Soulful Work Day;

“I’d like to suggest that we re-envision Labor Day and approach it as a reflective moment that can fulfill more of it’s potential in our current age. Rather than think about labor (which honestly doesn’t have the greatest connotation), consider work as a means of releasing our own unique purpose into the world. In this way, work no longer is tied exclusively to whether it is done for economic means. It could be volunteering at a battered women’s shelter. It could be pursuing a hobby like gardening, woodworking, or painting. It could be sharing your ideas through a blog.

On Labor Day, consider what gifts you can give through your work.”

 

~ ~ ~Today’s Featured posting: How Smiles and Thank Yous Make a Difference by Starbucker, author of Ramblings from a Glass Half Full.

Please read what Starbucker has to say there: I continually assert that management should be A Calling, and that great managers create great workplaces, and within today's gem on Joyful Jubilant Learning, you will read what that intention sounds like.