So here we are, the “end of summer” so to speak. We celebrate the working people who is US! It came about in the 19th Century by the labor unions who were looking for very specific improvements in their working conditions. What came out of it was the 40-day work week with company benefits such as paid time off, vacation time and sick leave. So here we are today celebrating the common worker…US!

And, in my research, it’s the first Monday in September because they just wanted it to be between July 4 and Thanksgiving. In my opinion, we do need a holiday to jump-start our new year after lying low during the warm months of summer. And kids need a boost to starting the new school year.

I personally don’t care if I engage in the usual outdoor barbecue with family and friends. Sometimes you just want a day off. I slept in, made a very nice breakfast (ahem), went for a stress-free ride for about 20 minutes. Then did a bit of laundry…yes, laundry. My winter bedspread. I change to winter in September and to Spring in April. Very much on time I’ll have you know. And you know how it is. You get the urge to “do it now” to get it done so you don’t have to worry about it on a busier day, when you wish you didn’t have to worry about getting it done. Ha!

But you also reflect on the working group of us people…at least I do. We work. All the time. Even if you’re retired you still want to work at something. I remember a priest I used to work for saying right before he retired, that he “wanted to still do some priestly work. Didn’t want to play all the time.” And sure enough. The Bishop at that time used him very well. He sent the priest to be the interim priest at a parish looking for a permanent one, and then to another parish struggling to stay together after some uncomfortable occurrences with the parishioners. And positive results every time! This priest loved what he was doing. And he did it very well for several years after he retired.

So what we also celebrate on Labor Day is being useful. Yes. Humans need to feel needed and useful. I know several self-made millionaires who you would never expect were millionaires at all! They act like normal everyday people. They built their wealth. But they realize it as well. Plus their wealth also helps them to be useful and contribute to other areas of society that need extra help…e.g. charities etc.

I’ve always been the “personal achievement” career person. I think all of you who read my blog have already been saturated with that. Ha! But that’s how I feel useful. Of course I feel useful in the regular jobs I’ve had but I feel the MOST useful when writing about my subjects, the stuff I do with my own personal passion. I’ll bet you can list them in your sleep by now. Ha! Music, Makeup Artistry, Professionalism, My Philosophy about Life. My “categories” are usually listed above the blog…which one I’ve assigned the most recent article.

Anyway. So back to Labor Day. We labor at our stuff and are proud of ourselves. We love accomplishing our stuff. We love accomplishing stuff we’ve invented and making it come to life. I come from a creative family. My Dad especially. He was a musician. He was also a wonderful artist. He built furniture. I’ve done and continue to do all of that. Just so you know, the furniture I’ve built is shockingly still standing. Ha!!!!! But I’m proud of my work. I’m proud of my accomplishments and I have felt very useful engaging in these activities.

Again, that’s what Labor Day is all about. Working, yes. Feeling you’ve accomplished something that was very much needed, yes. Feeling useful, yes. We’re not robots. We love to work and feel we’ve contributed to society. We ALL do.

So do celebrate this Labor Day. Celebrate the working class which is really all of us. Celebrate yourself. Eat a hotdog. Have ice cream. Play games. Lay about. Relax. And yes, I do know that many work on holidays. But still celebrate yourself as you work. Because that’s what us humans do. And we make a pretty darn good collective contribution to our society.

Cheers to Us! I’ll have more pie!

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