Do You Rest?

Hello friends,

How often do you rest? What is the quality of that rest? What most helps you to rest?

These are important questions, especially now when stress is rising for so many people around the globe. There are many good reasons for this stress, many of them linked to basic survival. But the more enmeshed in stress, worry, or anger we become, the less effective we also become.

We need to know when to show up and pay attention, and we need to choose when to take some time out.

Because I work for myself, I have my own strange relationship to rest. It’s easy to work seven days a week. And it’s easy for an overloaded, tired brain to get into unhelpful loops.

Note to us all: doomscrolling does not count as rest.

So, I’ve taken to carving out time to rest. That also means figuring out what actually helps the various parts of me rest. Going for a walk helps. Listening to music helps. Morning mediation helps. Watching a movie or show with my sweetheart helps. Reading helps. So does staring out the window at the crow parents and their fledgling at the bird bath, or the squirrels chasing each other around a tree.

Recently, while walking from the gym early one cloudy August morning, I was stopped by the sight of a small bee, fast asleep in a sunflower. Ah, yes, even busy bees rest. All of nature must rest. An overworked field ceases to be able to sustain life until it has years to recover. It is far better to rest and rejuvenate that field between crops.

Even our cells need downtime to recalibrate themselves. Why would the rest of us be any different?

This week, I hope you are taking some time to rest, in whatever form that takes.

Best wishes — Thorn

ps: Patreon people, part two of our Love Spell is up!