MONDAY BYTES – September 5, 2011
According to About.com, “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.”
Leaving aside the Labor movement, and all the good work that unions have done, let’s focus on labor itself—on the work. Musicians often have a love/hate relationship with some aspect of their own labor or work, whether it’s a certain aspect of practicing, a stand partner, reed-making, or their day job.
This can make it difficult to appreciate the effect of our work, of our actions on others, or to see what kind of ripple effect we have. But we do have impact, often far greater than we imagine. So maybe this is a good week to remember Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” whose character is sent an angel, Clarence, who shows him what his town, Bedford Falls, would have become had he (Jimmy) not been around to make things better in countless ways.
Questions for the week:
1. What is it that makes your life, your work, wonderful?
2. What are you contributing to the strength, prosperity and well-being of your community and your country?
3. What is your attitude towards your work? Do you love what you’re doing?
If not, what are you doing about it?
As always, I welcome your comments and feedback!
PS: The results are in from our quickie survey of musicians’ #1 career concern: THANK YOU to all who participated – I’ll be sending results soon!
For info on working with me: details are HERE.
Dream big, Plan smart, Live well!
