Pay Your Teachers, Artists and Writers: 7 Types of Unrecognized Labor that Need to be Recognized

PAY YOUR WRITERS, ARTISTS AND TEACHERS: 7 KINDS OF LABOR:

1. Emotional Labor.
   For example, there were at least 3 men who commented on a Tori Amos "Little Earthquakes" album that her music was the one thing that helped them heal from heroin addiction because it was the ONLY thing that could help them FEEL.

Doesn't Tori Amos deserve to get paid for that labor? Doesn't my friend Kina Grannis deserve to get paid too because she is indeed taking that very specific stance explicitly with her music on Patreon - she hopes it helps people FEEL...so, on social media, likewise, writers are also artists...and there is a crossover here...

plus many of the writers on social media also make videos which require even more labor...

1. Intellectual Labor.

Many of these writers have painstakingly come up with eye-opening frameworks and mental models such as my own models of "4 types of anger", "3 Stages of Spiritual Evolution", "the Cycle of Suffering"...and more!

This has been very useful in "decolonizing" yourself from the feedback loop between social oppression and internalized repression.

In addition, it took years and decades of research, research interviews, meditation, mentorship and more to come up with these innovative frameworks and mental models - that's a lot of "intellectual labor". (Thanks to Reva Patwardhan for point this one out).

1. Mental Labor.

All of this takes actual brain cells - we need money for brain food such as avocados and coconut oil which are very expensive. Enough said.

1. Spiritual Labor.

All of this takes time, space and energy spent in meditation, awareness practices, and connecting to our Guides, Ancestors and the Divine.

And it does help to have a clean spacious environment for this to take place which brings us to:

1. Environmental Labor.
   We need the optimum environment for this. Some people need a clutter-free environment. Some people require a certain amount of mess in their room (for reals)...and it takes money and labor to set up our rooms in the optimum condition.

2. Relational Labor.

Some of us gain inspiration through having a "thought-partner" or even through having a community of people that supports us.

And some of us receive inspiration through our sexual connections.

Again, it takes time, money and energy to maintain these relationships.

1. Mitochondrial labor.

This may be the hardest to explain because not everyone is familiar with biology.

It comes from the word "mi·to·chon·dri·on" plural: "mitochondria"

an organelle found in large numbers in most cells, in which the biochemical processes of respiration and energy production occur.

This "mitochondrial labor" is taking place whenever the first 6 kinds of labor are being engaged...
These 7 types are by no means exhaustive...there could be a lot more...

I only documented them to show people what's behind the scenes so that there's greater appreciation and respect for our work as writers, artists and teachers.

This is precisely why many of us are starting a Patreon presence and/or blogging on Steem.