Looking for a book to set the tone for the new year?
Rest is Resistance is a wonderful place to start. In this short read, Tricia Hersey explores the need for rest in our increasingly restless society. She explores topics including the constant need to feel productive, as conditioned by capitalism, tracing back to the brutal slave labor that this country was built on.
We’re reading this book in the KCC book club and the timing couldn’t be better. We’re looking forward to entering the new year with rest as a priority. We’ll be diving into some of the topics covered in Rest as Resistance in this blog, so read on!
“You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.”
— Tricia Hersey, Rest is Resistance
Starting the new year with REST
Resolutions, fresh starts, and big goals: that’s the general tone when entering a new year. But what if we put all of that to rest for a moment?
What if instead of trying to do and accomplish, we just focused on being. No pressure to perform, no guilt for being ‘lazy’ — just peace and presence. What would your life look like if you made more room for rest? What would our society look like if we dialed back the omnipresent emphasis on ‘go, go, go’?
Perhaps we could come back to our roots and reconnect with the core of what it means to be alive, instead of simply feeling like cogs in the machine.
What is Success?
Most Americans visualize success in terms of work and money. Productivity is often equated to success. The more you output, the more you reap the rewards. But, what if we have all just been conditioned by our capitalist system?
The majority of us are pushing ourselves to the point of exhaustion in order to attain this generally agreed upon concept of success… but at what cost?
In Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey points out that by pushing ourselves to these limits, we are feeding into the same system that was originally built on the back of brutal slavery for the sake of capital gain.
Maybe it’s time to reconsider our collective and individual ideas of success. Perhaps success could mean happiness, or self-love, or presence. What does success mean to you?
Self-Worth and Productivity
Most people, whether they realize it or not, have their sense of self-worth inextricably entwined with productivity.
More often than not, there is some level of guilt in rest. We feel we must earn our rest, and truly deserve to take time off. But the fact of the matter is that rest is a basic human need, and it sets the foundation for all to follow. Without adequate rest, everything falls apart.
Capitalism surely thrives on our willingness to sacrifice rest for productivity, but do we?
Breaking Free from Hustle Culture
Breaking free from hustle culture is rising in the ranks of priorities around the world. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was that it forced much needed rest, and allowed for our systems to reset. As a result, many people are now prioritizing family time, personal interests, and work/life balance — when before, work would often take first place without a doubt.
Here are a few ways to break free from the hustle culture that has become so pervasive in modern America.
- Release guilt attached to rest
- Seek a more flexible work schedule
- Situate your work around your life, not the other way around
- Set a daily self-care routine (meditation, nature walks, reading, journaling, or a nap)
- Reflect on your relationship with productivity
- Speak to a professional
“We are more powerful than we believe.” — Tricia Hersey
You are infinite. We are all incredible beings of light, yet we are conditioned by our societal constructs to put ourselves into boxes without much question. So how do we release the conditioning and stop being held back?
Coming into your power happens through self-love. Loving yourself is incredibly empowering. Once you truly love yourself, then you can lead with love in all that you do. Love is perhaps the greatest power within us.
Letting go of fear, shame, and anger can help us realize our true power. Therapy creates a space to quiet the noise and find yourself (again). Book now with one of our counselors of a free 15 minute face-to-face conversation to learn how we can help.