Rethinking Labor
Honoring the Seen and Unseen Work of Our Lives
By the UWM Editors
Labor Day isn’t just a long weekend and the symbolic end of summer. This federal holiday was created to honor workers—their rights, contributions, and dignity. But when we pause to think about the word labor, we realize it encompasses far more than professional roles or economic output. Labor is also the unpaid, often invisible work that sustains our lives and our communities.
It’s the countless hours of caregiving—rocking a baby at 3 a.m., checking in on an aging parent, cooking nourishing meals.
It’s the emotional energy of smoothing conflict, listening deeply, and holding space for others.
It’s the creative work of shaping ideas into form, even when there’s no paycheck attached.
It’s the community-building—organizing, volunteering, showing up—that keeps our neighborhoods and social circles thriving.
The Invisible Weight of Unseen Work
One of the challenges with this broader view of labor is that much of it goes unrecognized. Caregiving is often dismissed as “natural” rather than named as labor. Emotional labor is rarely acknowledged, even though it can be as exhausting as physical work. Creative labor is undervalued until it becomes marketable. This invisibility doesn’t make the work any less real—it just makes it harder to honor.
Scholars and writers have been exploring unseen work for decades. Sociologist Allison Daminger, for instance, highlights the ongoing inequity in cognitive labor—the constant background work of managing life’s details that too often goes unnoticed.
How Wellness Supports Laborers
When we widen our understanding of labor, wellness stops being a luxury and becomes a necessity. Herbal teas and calming rituals aren’t indulgences—they’re small supports that sustain caregivers through long days. Grounding practices like breathwork, meditation, or a walk outdoors aren’t extras—they’re tools that replenish emotional reserves. Even setting boundaries or saying “no” becomes an act of wellness, protecting the energy required to carry multiple forms of labor.
A Collective Lens
Rethinking labor also shifts wellness from an individual pursuit to a collective one. If we acknowledge that invisible labor holds families and communities together, then part of wellness is learning how to share the load. That might mean dividing household tasks more equitably, naming and thanking the emotional work someone does, or simply checking in on a friend who is carrying more than her share.
A Reflection to Carry
This Labor Day, instead of seeing rest as a pause from “real” work, let’s see it as part of the work itself—the essential rhythm that keeps us moving. Ask yourself:
What forms of labor am I carrying right now, seen and unseen?
How can I acknowledge and honor this work within myself?
Who in my life is carrying invisible labor that deserves recognition?
Honoring Labor in All Its Forms
By broadening our lens, Labor Day becomes more than a holiday—it becomes a moment of recognition. It’s an opportunity to honor every form of labor, whether it shows up on a paycheck or not. It’s a chance to remind ourselves, and one another, that all work deserves care, and all workers deserve wellness.
This holiday, may you find time to honor your own labor, thank someone else for theirs, and embrace the truth that wellness is not separate from our work—it is what makes it possible.