Maybe Rest Isn’t About Stopping

I had been craving the kind of rest that resets your insides. I was packing my suitcase, setting my out-of-office, and running through the simplest of summer plans in my head. I had also built up an expectation that my rest craving would be met over our summer break. Oof, expectations, you pressure creator you. The good news is that expectations were met. Even gooder news, that I learned something new about rest in the process.

That maybe rest is less about stopping and more about slipping into the places we can’t reach when we’re trying too hard.

I always thought rest meant stopping. Shutting it all down. Turning off. And sometimes, yes, it is that and it needs to be that.

But this summer, I didn’t fully stop (which my body and brain usually react negatively to lol). Instead, I slowed. Fewer alarm clocks. Longer mornings. A bit of structure, but with space built in. I let myself meander. Said yes to what felt good, and quietly put down what didn’t. Changed my mind, changed my plans. Even let myself work if that’s what I wanted to do.

And without really trying, the dreams started to show up again.
Ideas I hadn’t heard in months crept back in.
Creativity flowed.
Playfulness was aplenty.

While I’m still a fan of stillness - when the moment calls - the slipping into those quieter inner rooms, the ones we can’t reach when we’re hustling, planning, pushing, perfecting - that was what allowed my insides to reset.

And now, as we head into fall with all its schedules and structure, I’m wondering how to keep a little of that summer spaciousness alive. So here’s what I’m trying (maybe you want to try too):

• Keep one part of your day slow. Maybe it's a morning without your phone, or a 10-minute walk without a podcast. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

• Undercommit one weekend day. Dare to play things by ear, at least for a day, or part of a day.

• Look for the little joys. In the charged days, in the noise, highlighting these little moments has been key.