Rest is Resistance
Dear UUCH,
If you have sent me an email in the past week or so, you probably know that I have spent the last 10 days on Study Leave. Study Leave for Unitarian Universalist Religious Professionals is intended to be a nurturing time of rest and renewal. To lean into that idea, I anchored my time away with the brilliant words of black poet and activist Tricia Hersey and her book, Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto. Hersey created a movement ministry, called the Nap Ministry in Chicago, that centers resting our bodies and releasing guilt and shame about that rest, as a means for liberation and resilience.
Hersey writes, “Resting is for everyone caught up in the web of grind culture. We must never forget that grind culture is a sinister collaboration between capitalism and white supremacy. We are all caught up in these systems.”
And with these words, and this reminder that rest is holy work that honors our inherent worth and dignity, I took to resting. I read books. I cooked yummy and nutritious meals. I took Clementine on leisurely walks in the woods. I colored, I napped, I spent good time with friends. I watched documentaries, and I rested.
And in that rest, I understood the power of Hersey’s work. The claws of capitalism and white supremacy are sunk in so deep in my soul. I felt guilty, I felt unproductive, I felt shame. I had to choose each day to let that shame go. I wonder if you feel that shame? Do you experience guilt or stress when you are resting?
Tricia Hersey offers a list of places to begin in the process of resting and releasing guilt.
She writes,
- Detox from social media weekly, monthly or more.
- Begin to heal the individual trauma that you have experienced that makes it difficult to say no and maintain healthy boundaries.
- Start a daily practice in daydreaming.
- Accept that there is no quick fix, magic bullet, or instant change.
- Slowly accept that you have been brainwashed. Your socialization in a capitalist culture makes this true. Begin to deprogram by accepting this truth.
- Slow down.
- You are enough now. If you have to repeat this to yourself every day, do so.
- Understand exhaustion is not productive. You are not resting to gain more energy to be productive and do more.
- Listen more.
- Create systems of community care.
Coming out of this time of study and rest, I feel so much better. I feel calm and focused and human and just a little bit more grounded in myself. I am so grateful that our church offers me a benefits package and a workplace that reflects our vision of how the world should be. I wish each of you could take a week or two of study leave so you could rest. But until the whole world understands our human need for rest, may you take whatever time off you can, may you slow down, listen, and set boundaries. May you tell yourself the truth: that you are sacred, that you are enough, and that you do not need to work so hard.
May we all inhabit a spirit of rest this summer. May we remember that our inherent worth and dignity is tied to our humanity and not our productivity.
Let us resist, let us rest, let us rest!
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