Books about REST are on my mind this year. I am reading How to Do Nothing right now, Seeking Slow is on my bedside table along with Yin Magic (How to Be Still), I just checked The Art of Stopping Time out of the library, and today the beautiful and nurturing new book Radiant Rest by Tracee Stanley arrived in the mail. Perhaps I should set them all aside and just go take a nap?!
Shout out to the Nap Ministry as well with their powerful “rest as resistance” activism.
I have also been thinking about how self-care, daily practices, rituals, women’s circles/red tents/retreats, and even joy itself can feel like, or be treated like, an “indulgence” and that’s why they are sometimes the first thing to cut out when life feels tight or under strain. Or, when in comparison to other people’s struggles. i.e. How dare I sit here with my little cards and happiness while other people are suffering? When I teach my Red Tent class, I talk about one of the things that keeps people from regularly showing up or makes them drop out at the last minute, is that perception that coming to circle is a luxury, an indulgence, something you only “deserve” if you’ve taken care of everything else that needs you. This is a particular issue for women and caregivers, but can be an issue for anyone. Do I really “deserve” to take care of myself or am I being “spoiled”? Anyway, I am here to say that daily practice, time with yourself, devotional practices, and rest are NOT not an indulgence, in fact that can be powerful acts of resistance to an “attention economy” whose daily mission it is to separate you from yourself and that inner whisper from within that says, “yes, this.”
A reminder that I’m currently offering a #30DaysofGoddess devotional practice for free this month too.