First name / Hey - How would your life change if you started resting?

 

Society drives us to do more, be more, and want more. But what would happen if you stopped chasing after the next thing and simply focused on being?

 

How would your life change?

 

I want to challenge the idea that rest and laziness are the same thing and focus on the need for rest and how it can be used to fight the negative impacts of capitalism and empower you to live life in a more fulfilling way.

 

Your value isn’t found in what you accomplish. Being a workaholic isn’t going to lead you to a path of success, and success can be defined in more ways than money.

 

Why do we need rest? The simple answer: we need rest to function.

 

The complicated answer is that we aren’t designed to be constantly on the go, and capitalism has altered how we view ourselves and the world. We need rest to realign who we are to lead fulfilling lives where we’re happy to simply exist.

 

“Periods in which works is ceased provide space for life to exist outside the parameters of productivity. Rather than an optional leftover activity, rest constitutes a crucial opportunity to recharge our energy, reflect on our thoughts, restore our focus, remove what is unwanted and recover our equilibrium.” – Molly Grover

Rest isn’t optional. It’s vital to living a purposeful life.

 

If you want to have the energy to fight injustice, the ability to find freedom, and the opportunities to reconnect with yourself, you need to rest.

 

“To not rest is really being violent towards your body, to align yourself with a system that says your body doesn’t belong to you, keep working, you are simply a tool for our production…”— Tricia Hersey

 

There is beauty in resting, and the more you incorporate intentional rest into your everyday life, the more you’ll connect with yourself and find fulfillment, purpose, and excitement in life. 

 

I love this quote, “Healing justice means that we begin to value care, emotional labor and resilience, not as add-ons but as central components of sustainability that restore us to life. Rest is revolution. It can restore, empower, heal, and cultivate joy.”— Prentiss Hemphill

 

In saying all of this, I recognize that resting is a privilege, and many people can’t afford to rest. But, this drives home the idea that we need to normalize (dare I say idolize) rest as it’s a vital necessity for life. We need rest to function, and we need rest to find fulfillment.

 

We need to change the narrative. Rest should not be a privilege; it is a right. 

 

You are more than what you produce, and resting will help you find a new sense of purpose in life and allow you to do the good work you’re setting out to do.

 

 

Now, I urge you. Please rest and consider, “How will I be useless to capitalism today?”