It’s a tough old time of year for many people. We’re expected to have had a rest over the Christmas and New Year and be ready to get back to the grind. In the UK the weather is gloomy, the days short and many of us just want to hibernate until Spring.
So we decided to look at rest. “Rest is Resistance – a Manifesto” is a book by Tricia Hersey, an American poet, performance artist and activist. She upholds the idea that rest is an act of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.
Many people involved in climate activism and anyone who knows about the climate crisis can become burnt out. If you are constantly “on the go”, physically and mentally, it becomes difficult to soldier on and it is better just to rest.
We asked the questions, “Do we get enough rest?” and, “What gets in the way?”
And these were our thoughts:
-What is rest? Peace and calm. Our modern lifestyle is not conducive to rest. If we relax in front of the telly it can be very stressful because of all the tortured animals, different disabilities and bad stuff happening all over the world seen on our screens.
-I have PTSD which can disturb sleep. There are things that I can do to aid sleep, eating properly and having an afternoon nap. I like the idea of rest being resistance. I did a Ph.D. and a dissertation about the environment and it was very stressful, not just the long hours, but also seeing how little is being changed to make the world a better place.
-I work from home so I can be very flexible with my time. However, I still don’t get enough rest. Relaxing in the evening isn’t necessarily restful as my out-of-work activities are sometimes stressful.
-Physical rest and mental rest are very different. Cycling to and from work can be restful because you have to totally concentrate on the traffic so you are switching off which is a form of mental rest.
-Generally, people don’t get enough rest because of full-time work and caring roles such as children and elderly relatives. I get plenty of time to rest but I don’t feel that it’s quality. In the past socializing and work have got in the way of rest for me.
-Modern life isn’t really helpful. It is important to be seen to be busy, and we feel as if we have to justify time to rest. Sometimes we cram things in our lives that aren’t really important but stop us from resting. If we want to rest, we don’t need to justify it. What can stop us getting rest are the long hours that we are expected to work in this country.
In the next conversation, we looked at the three spheres of transformation. The outer sphere is the personal, our values and beliefs. The middle is the political, such as social systems and structures and the inner is the practical. Things that can be done to transform.
We brainstormed ideas about what could be done about rest and then put the ideas into the different sections of transformation. There is a diagram of the three spheres in these notes.
Personal
- Keep to work hours
- Decide whether I really want or need to do something that isn’t restful
- Don’t base self-esteem on productivity
- No car ownership, use public transport and help to make it better. Use charity shops and recycle stuff. Avoid throwaway stuff.
- Not having to work long hours to prove that I’m useful.
Political
- Better and free child care
- 4 day week
- Making sure a work contract offers enough time off
- Pressure public transport companies to provide more frequent services
- Social care being valued and funded, for children and the elderly
- Maximum working hours
- Don’t see people as resources to be exploited – valuable as themselves
- Social security
Practical
- Deliberately taking time out to just rest. (Maybe meditating?)
- Start a blog, YouTube channel or write a book
- Have siestas when the weather is hot
- Experiment with doing nothing
- More naps for younger children
- Employers training on how to recognise burnout
- Value work on outcomes not on hours spent but not exploitatively
- A more fluid retirement