Intro  08:46:49  
[musical interlude] This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University.

Rosa McAllister  08:47:12  
Aloha all, this is Rosa McAllister. And it is the first Monday of the month at 8pm Eastern time. So it's our Healing Circle Call, our monthly call - anonymous that is, between those of us just wanting to share some time, share some space, remember that we're not alone, and that we're one together. This is offered to you through Networks for Training and Development and we've been doing these healing circle calls for the last oh my goodness, four or five years officially on the first Monday of the month. But actually, we've done it for much longer than that. I did this with a small group of friends across the world for actually several years, and then decided to do it as part of Networks. So we're thrilled to be continuing this opportunity and this offering to all of our friends out there. This is also being recorded and will be made available as part of our podcast series, Healing Circle Calls or Networks Healing Circle. 

Rosa McAllister  08:48:13  
And today, I am honored to be your leader in our call today. Probably going to be a little bit of a short one, because it is a holiday. It's Labor Day, September 7 2020. And I thought that I'd spend just a little bit of time with you today. For those of you at least it's Labor Day in the United States, I should say it is a United States a US of A, American holiday, national holiday. And for many of us what Labor Day means to us is it marks the end of summer, and kind of the close of summer. Memorial Day starts the summer and Labor Day ends the summer. But there's much more meaning to it than that, certainly. And yet, I think for many of us, we don't contemplate that. We don't think about that. 

Rosa McAllister  08:49:01  
So Labor Day was officially started on June 28 1894 by President Grover Cleveland. And it was signed into law then. It was more than a century before the true founder of Labor Day was yet to be found. Many people credit Peter McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, and others have suggested that Matthew McGuire,  Secretary to the Central Labor Union, initially proposed the holiday. And again, it took quite some time before it was signed into law in 1894 by Grover Cleveland. And it was decided that it would be the first Monday in September. And yes, it would acknowledge in many ways the end of summer. But the real merit or the real belief or the real purpose behind Labor Day was to honor all of the workers and those unions and others that protect our workers, including the laws and presidents and other things like that precedence, I should say, policies and things like that, that have helped workers in the United States have better working conditions, and be honored. In many places across the United States, Labor Day is honored and celebrated in cities and towns with parades and picnics and barbecues and fireworks and all kinds of other displays [and] public gatherings. I'm afraid that that's probably not happening so much this time around, because this is 2020 and we are still in the midst of a pandemic and COVID-19 or the Coronavirus and so many locations, they're still many, many people holding back and many locations not allowing us to gather in large numbers.

Rosa McAllister  08:51:01  
Labor Day often also, at least it used to be, that it was the it marked the beginning of school. School usually started officially back for the fall semester or the new year, the day after or two days after Labor Day. Nowadays, that's not the case. Many schools start previous to Labor Day. And again in 2020 in this interesting year that's upon us, many schools have started back or trying to start back or trying to figure out how they're going to start back in a very different way. Many with full-time distance learning, some with part-time distance learning/part-time in person, sometimes staggered schedules, all kinds of different variations again, because of the pandemic and the virus and people's concern with gathering together with others and in public. 

Rosa McAllister  08:51:52  
So, this year, in many ways, all of our lives have changed. And it's been six months, since at least in the United States, it's really hit us. And these six months for many of us have been very long and very hard, and yet also have somehow flown by, in a weird kind of way. And life is very, very different for many of us, maybe for all of us, than it used to be. With all this in mind, with hostilities that seem to be growing every day, and people on all kinds of different sides and beliefs, about the pandemic about the virus and how we should all be affected by it, and treating it and treating one another. Also, with issues and discrepancies and all sides around political um our political climate, and what's happening in the United States, with a presidential election coming up in just a short amount of time. There are many, many things that seem to be on the rise: fear, hostility, anger, scaredness, and more. There seems to be more acts of violence than at least I've ever been aware of, and public displays of animosity, public displays of opinions. There's been infighting in many families. Many friends I've heard have separated. There are increased cases of addictions, and domestic violence, and many other things going on in the world. 

Rosa McAllister  08:53:37  
And yet, here we are in the midst of all of this, still, it's a beautiful day. And still, the world is spinning. And still, we are lucky to be alive, and to be present at this momentous time. Some say that we'll look back on this time, historians will, those of us who live past it will tell our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids, about living through 2020 and what it was like for us, there are some jokes and some memes that 2020 will become the new curse word. "Go to 2020.", you know, and or, you know, "How do you feel?" "I feel 2020." and various things like that to indicate frustrations and sense of anger and disbelief and hell in a handbasket. And yet, again, here we are. It's a beautiful day. And it's Labor Day. And it's a celebration. 

Rosa McAllister  08:54:46  
So whether you're alone, whether you're with family, whether you're with one other person, or maybe many, whether you're outdoors and going ahead with that barbecue or celebration, or whether you're indoors, having a quiet day to yourself, please, let's honor the Workers of the World, the workers among us, the work that we all do. For many of us, it's more than just a job. It's more than just a career. It's our lifeblood. For many of us, we work far more hours, even off the clock, then some think we should, because it matters, because it is a part of who we are - our work. And for many of us our "work" is in quotations, air quotes. Because it really doesn't feel like work at all. It is part of who we are. It's part of our calling. It's part of our beliefs and our values, our give back to the world, our being of service. It's who we are and what we do.

Rosa McAllister  08:56:02  
And so for all of us, whether you're in the former or the latter character category, someone who feels it is just the job and thank goodness you have off today, or those of us who feel like it's not a job at all, it's a way of being: wherever you are, I salute you. I salute the work that you do. I salute the good that you bring to this world. I salute the supports and the services that you provide to help me and my loved ones, my neighbors and my friends and my family, my community. I salute you and I support you for the work you do and whatever it might look like. May we all breathe together. Maybe we all will find ways to support one another. May we all find ways to listen to one another, with not just our ears but with our true hearts. And maybe we find ways to celebrate and thank one another for the work that we do in this world. So with great Aloha, and love, I say Happy Labor Day to you. Thank you. Please join us again for our healing circle call first Monday of the month. 8pm Eastern Time. Mahalo and Aloha.

Outro  08:57:26  
[musical interlude] Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai