A Joyful Practice

A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “The Hardest Working Day, the Way the Words Work, & More Sides of the Story” May 1, 2026

Peace and many blessings to anyone celebrating / observing International Workers’ Day, Law Day and Loyalty Day (in the US),  the Feast Day of Saint Joseph the Worker, Counting the Omer, and/or the Third Week of Pascha!

“Chag Sameach!” to observing/celebrating Pesach Sheni (Second Passover)! “Happy Riḍván!” to anyone celebrating “the Most Great Festival.” 

“There was an instance of silence. Then from beneath Spies’s hood came the words: ‘The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.’”

— quoted from “Chapter 23 – The Scaffold” in The Haymarket Tragedy by Paul Avrich

There is a certain kind of silence today. It is not the absence of sound, per se. It is the absence of a certain kind of sound: the sound of people working. Today, people all over the United States are participating in a general strike.

Organizing on this day is not an accident. It is an intentional act rooted in history that is simultaneously tragic, powerful, and meaningful.

Hopefully, today will be full of powerful meaning and empty of tragedy.

“Strike: ‘A temporary stoppage of work by a group of workers in order to express a grievance or to enforce a demand. Such a grievance or demand may or may not be workplace-related.’

– -The first sentence of this definition is heavily influenced by Peterson (1937: 3),¹ also used by Hyman (1989: 17).² The only difference we make to the first part of this definition is by changing ‘employees’ to ‘workers.’

Labor Protest: ‘Collective action by a group of people as workers but without withdrawing their labor in order to express a grievance or enforce a demand. Such a grievance or demand may or may not be workplace-related. A labor protest may also consist of a group of people not acting in the protest as workers as long as the central demand is workplace related.’

We distinguish between strikes and labor protests as a core component of our labor action tracker. The major distinction between strikes and labor protests relates to whether a group of workers stopped work during the course of the event. We believe this definition of strikes is relatively inclusive, but we need to convincingly demonstrate that a stoppage of work led by a group of workers occurs to label an event a strike.”

— quoted “Section I: Definitions” on the “Methodology” page of the Cornell University Labor Action Tracker

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.

FTWMI: The Hardest Working Day, the Way the Words Work, & More Sides of the Story

“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.”

— Eugene V. Debs, quoted from his statement to the Federal Court (Cleveland, Ohio), after being convicted of violating the Sedition Act, September 18, 1918

The First Friday Night Special for May has been rescheduled (and will be a Second Friday Night Special).

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

“¹Peterson, F. (1937). Strikes in the United States: 1880-1936. Washington: United States Department of Labor.

² Hyman, R. (1989). Strikes: Fourth Edition. London: Macmillan.”

— quoted “Section I: Definitions” on the “Methodology” page of the Cornell University Labor Action Tracker

### YOGA ###