J. A. Mays

A day’s work for a day’s pay. I hate this approach to life. It cheapens us.

This simple formula bothers me for two reasons:

1. Are you really willing to sell yourself out so cheap? Do you mortgage an entire (irreplaceable) day for your life of a few bucks? The moment you are willing to sell your time for money is the moment you cease to be the artist you are capable of being.

2. Is that it? Is the transaction over? If we’re even at the end of a day as the formula says, then you owe me nothing and I owe you nothing in return. If we’re even then there is no bond, no on-going connection between us . (You and the employer)

The alternative is to treasure what it means to do a day’s work. It’s our one and only chance to do something productive today, and it’s certainly not available to someone merely because he is the high bidder. A day’s work is your chance to do art, to create a gift, to do something that matters. As your work gets better and your art becomes more important, competition for your gifts will increase and you’ll discover that you can be choosier about whom you give them to.