Newsletter 2015 September

Word of the Month: Labor

noun:

1. work, expenditure of physical or mental effort

“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” Theodore Roosevelt, 1858 – 1919

“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” Liberty Hyde Bailey, 1858 – 1954

2. the process of childbirth, especially the period from the start of uterine contractions to delivery

“It is not only that we want to bring about an easy labor, without risking injury to the mother or the child; we must go further. We must understand that childbirth is fundamentally a spiritual, as well as a physical, achievement. The birth of a child is the ultimate perfection of human love.” Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, 1890 – 1953

adjective:

3. of or relating to work, often used in reference to childbirth

“Imagine what might happen if women emerged from their labor beds with a renewed sense of the strength and power of their bodies, and of their capacity for ecstasy through giving birth” Dr. Christiane Northrup, 1949 –

4. of, relating to, or constituting a political party held to represent the interests of workers or made up largely of organized labor groups (often capitalized)

“It is one of the characteristics of a free and democratic nation that it have free and independent labor unions.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882 – 1945

verb:

5. to do work; make great effort.

“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.” George Washington, 1733 – 1799