Here in the USA, it’s Labor Day weekend.
I just looked up the history of Labor Day, and discovered — no surprise — that it has roots in labor unions.
You can click here to learn more if you are curious — and to see a great photo of an early Labor Day float being pulled by two horses during a celebration in 1916..
I have read that union activity is on an upswing in the USA.
With a current CEO-to-worker compensation ratio estimated to be 400 — meaning that chief executive officers are likely to earn 400 times the annual average salary of production and nonsupervisory workers in their industry — the time seems ripe to re-balance this extraordinarily greedy state of affairs.
I am an inactive member of two unions — SAG/AFTRA (for film and TV) and Equity (for stage) — as a result of working professionally as a child and teenager.
Go unions!
They are a vital part of our human socety’s interconnected systems of checks and balances.
Deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I originally featured this recording with pianist Doug Hammer of a great Gershwin Brothers song a couple of years ago as part of a very long blog post in which I shared the pros and cons of a chatbot-assisted music marketing strategy as well as some show business history.
Today’s post will be shorter and sweeter.
THANK YOU to everyone who has been streaming my songs in recent months!
“Gold In Them Hills” — which I released a month ago — has just surpassed 1000 streams on Spotify. This translates into approximately $4 worth of income — which is split, I think, between the person who owns the rights to the song (Ron Sexsmith and/or his music publishing company) and the person who owns the rights to this particular recording of his song (which is me).
“Nice Work If You Can Get It” — which I released near the end of June — has been streamed 685 times on Spotify.
So that will earn me another dollar.
Luckily I am in this for the long haul…and I earn enough money from performing at retirement communities and leading Music Together classes to cover my very minimal expenses.
I also feel very fortunate to be making and sharing music as a way to make a (very modest) living.
Music really is “nice work if you can get it.”
A musician named Bree Noble — who also does a lot of teaching and coaching of other musicians — recently sent out an email which I found inspiring.
She wrote:
“Did you know that releasing music — i.e. seeing a beloved project through to completion — can improve your mental health?”
According to her, “studies show that most people desire purpose and connection in their work, and without that, their mental health can suffer.”
“We thrive when we experience ‘birthing’ an idea and seeing it through (to completion) — taking on a project that is our ‘baby’ and nurturing it to ‘adulthood.'”
Releasing music “can give (us) the emotional and spiritual benefits of project ownership — taking on a new challenge, providing a goal to work toward, and giving (us) a …fulfilling event to look forward to.”
Best of all, “not only can the…process (of releasing music) invigorate (our) emotional and spiritual (lives), it can help (our) music reach new people who need to hear it, enriching their lives as well.”
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
I think this wisdom/insight can apply to any creative undertaking — even writing a blog post.
It also reminds me of an article I read recently about folks who live to be over 100 years old.
Researchers have been studying these people’s lives, and many common themes have emerged.
They tend to be optimistic — while also acknowledging the reality of their challenges.
They tend to feel connected with others — as part of an extended family, a circle of friends, a spiritual community, a bowling league, a quilting circle, a fraternal lodge, a blogging community or some other subset of beings here in the interconnected web of life on planet earth.
Their diets tend to be plant-based — eating more vegetables, fruits, beans/legumes, and whole grains AND and more “cooked-from-scratch” meals (meaning less processed/junk food items…)
They tend to get out into nature on a regular basis — walking, biking, swimming, doing tai chi, painting, reading, playing games, etc. — rather than sitting at home and watching TV.
And they tend to have a sense of purpose — whether volunteering their time, sharing their wisdom, contributing to group causes, creating things, etc.
Apparently if we feel that we need to be here on planet earth — contributing in some positive way to our families, friends, children, grandchildren, community, watershed, ecosystem, political system, etc. — we are less likely to die.
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I am curious to learn in the comments about what gives YOU a sense of purpose these days.
Here is a link to “Nice Work If You Can Get It” in case you might like to listen to it on a streaming service.
As I have shared in past blog posts, if you “like” it or “heart” it or add it to a playlist, that improves the algorithmic sharing of my music on that particular streaming service.
Thank you to the Gershwin brothers — Ira (words) and George (music) — for writing such great songs.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for playing so exuberantly on my version of their song AND for being such. a terrific engineer/producer.
Thank you to Stephen Fischer for his skillful graphic design work.
Thank you to labor unions for helping to counter-balance the greed which seems to be an unavoidable part of our capitalistic system of economics.
Thank you to the photographers at Pixabay for their great images.
Thank you to whoever took my photo 50+ years ago on a front staircase somewhere in NYC.
And thank YOU for reading. and listening to another one of my blog posts!