Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
“It is time to begin the dismantling of the cult of busyness one person at a time. One heart at a time. One body at a time.”
3 Main Messages:
We have been brainwashed into believing that our value is attached to our productivity
Our bodies and brains are not designed for this current toxic culture of capitalism
We need to return to our bodies, our old ways and make time for rest.
It turns out that this is the book I needed to read. As someone who loves lists, enjoys being efficient, effective, and all-too-often slips into measuring my self worth by how much I have accomplished, this book was a wake up call and came at just the right time.
After stepping out of a lifetime of working in education where the ‘to-do’ list is endless, where I have seen myself and my colleagues become more jaded and exhausted as each term progresses, where busyness is celebrated and encouraged, I understand the term ‘grind culture’. Tricia Hersey writes that “Grind culture has made us all human machines, willing and ready to donate our lives to a capitalist system that thrives by placing profits over people.” There is a guilt in stopping and stepping off the hamster wheel.
This is dangerous! In the moment, it means that we are tired, often not working in our best mental state, sacrificing relationships, hobbies, health and fun in the name of work. In the long term we know that this way of being is having a significant negative impact on our health. So it was resonant to read that “rest isn’t a luxury, but an absolute necessity if we’re going to survive and thrive.”
Tricia Hersey invites us to look at the world through different eyes. She asks us to realise that “Grind culture has made us all human machines, willing and ready to donate our lives to a capitalist system that thrives by placing profits over people”. She refers frequently to her ancestors, naming their captivity in slavery and seeing that people were viewed as commodities, useful only to make others richer.
In a way nothing has changed. By conforming to the belief that we are only valuable in terms of what we can contribute economically we are buying into the brainwashing. I am guilty of this even now, as I rush to complete this review before ‘earning’ my rest on holiday, I know I will struggle to relax until all my work is done. Hersey writes that “the more we think of rest as a luxury, the more we buy into the systemic lies of grind culture.”
But surely there is a positive aspect to this? Being someone who works hard, is efficient and completes tasks is not necessarily a bad thing - otherwise how would anything get done!? And I don’t believe that Hersey is telling us to not work at all, but instead to rest. Fully. Without guilt. She believes that we are missing out on tapping into our deeper state of being and knowing.
She is right when she writes that “Your brain needs deep, consistent sleep, rest, and silence to make new connections, for memory retention, and to download.” Think of a time when you felt overwhelmed and unable to process information, come up with an idea or make a decision. Then, following a good night’s sleep or a long walk, you figure it out.
Indeed great artists and inventors such as Salvadore Dali and Thomas Edison used their dream space to conjure their finest ideas, images and inventions. When we rest, we replenish and repair. Rest is vital. Hersey goes one step further and writes that “Rest provides a portal for healing, imagination, and communication with our Ancestors.” She frequently refers to tapping into a spiritual wisdom that is deeper than we know.
Hersey is also highly critical of the “grind” system we currently live in, calling it toxic, dangerous and violence. And yet this book is gentle, full of hope, and quietly determined. Through her work at The Nap Ministry, Hersey has learned about providing places and practicalities for rest. She has examined the systems we operate in and makes suggestions for where improvements can be made.
Mostly she gives us permission. Permission to slow down, to say no, to detach ourselves from our capitalist values and identities, and to rest - “We are not resting to be productive. We are resting simply because it is our divine right to do so.”
And on that note, I’m turning off my phone and am heading off for a nap.
