Resting, Not Consuming
If rest is something to do or get, your resting and restedness will always be incomplete. And it will feel that way, too.
Barriers to resting and being rested seem to be abundant in our world. They compound and resting becomes elusive, already unequal through systems of oppression. Following the last article examining the depth of pandemic pressurized fatigue, we acknowledge our humanity also requires forms that are intangible— we require forms of resting that honor what is unseen.
A lot of people (too many) are posting about rest; the vast majority of them are not really resting and being rested. I'm noticing the gap between wanting to find resting and actually being rested growing wide. It is not enough to consume rest as a feel-good, self-applauding concept or even as well-intended advocacy to be shared as part of your content reel. It must be embodied, felt and integrated in ongoing daily practice. And none of it requires anyone to witness it but you. A lot of it might feel complex too as you release and/or reorient yourself with the full spectrum of the human experience (it ain’t all rainbows and flowers). Have you noticed how you can sense (in)authenticity through a computer screen? Have you noticed how you can feel drained by certain text copy on an Instagram post in your phone? Perhaps you are part of a large, growing group of people who continue to look to rest the same way you have looked at self-care (the buzzword, extracted, colonial capitalist way).
Resting is not the same as consuming. Obvious? Because it’s happening a friggin’ lot. As a fundamental way of being, we must decondition ourselves from extraction and self-advancing models as ways to relate to the world, each other and our lives. Resting is naturally a benevolent act because the laws of nature, which include our bodies, are beyond intelligent. Our DNA understands that a precedent is required for anything to be possible. This includes who we are and then in what we choose to do by exponentiation. When we decline the rationalizing (bargaining) that "rest is productive", we powerfully shift a subtle yet directional force.
I invite you to remember (I promise, you do know because it’s a cellular intelligence of the miracle that is you as a living organism) that resting and being rested are ways of being. Not all of it requires your conscious control or management. Physiologically speaking, non of it does. Self-awareness and mindfulness will be quite potent, though. Consciously and spiritually speaking? You’ll want to keep reading and hop onto Clubhouse… You first, though.
What ways of being divest you from feeling energized, grounded, calm, rested?
The elusive nature of allowing resting is counter-culture to historical and societal expectations in North American living. That is one part of why it feel so prickly and sticky. That is one part of why it feels more uncomfortable more often than it could. People tend only to rest because burnout hits (which is a majorly extreme state to reach— I can’t wait until we can stop normalizing it). What seems to happen is that it's the things they're unable to get as a result of being burnt out become enough reason to pump the brakes. Suddenly, we discover that we're consuming ourselves.
We are more than the parts that make us, there is no separateness between mind, body and soul in our human experience. We are possible as a collective being of interconnected mind, body and soul. If we only care for our bodies when they fail us, we have deemed their value solely based on their ableism. If we only take care of our minds when they succumb to breakdown, we have deemed their value solely based on their output. If we only care for our spirit when they disconnect, we have deemed their value solely based on toxic positivity. While we abolish systems of oppression in our shared physical world, it's equally essential to examine our internalization of the same.
How do you know when resting and being rested are ways of being for you?
For community, seeing the unseen and/or valuing integrity in all spaces you show up: I'm starting 4 weeks of hot takes with Jamie Ni of Sonouros on Clubhouse and Instagram that dive into these many parts of a large web. Our conversations are centered in individually and collectively moving beyond illusions that are projected, normalized and perpetuated in our lives, businesses and industries. Head’s up: as a humxn being you're not exempt despite which business or industry you're in. Learn more about tuning in here.
