Why rest is an act of resistance

“This is about more than naps. Thank you for saying that. I say it so much - it is about way more - it’s a paradigm shift. It’s mind-altering. It’s culture-shifting. It’s a full-on politics of refusal. We have been brainwashed by this system to believe these things about rest, about our bodies, about our worth - this violent culture that wants to see us working 24 hours a day, that doesn’t view us as a human being, but instead views our divine bodies as a machine.”

I want to read Hersey's book, but this is a great introduction to her thinking about rest as resistance and so much more. Our culture, and capitalism in particular, drive us to think that rest is bad. It's taken me years to move towards a place where I slow down regularly and I realize that it's a privilege that I can do that, but we all need it so much. In addition I really enjoyed the way Hersey talked about certain activities as being rest inducing, that you can be doing something that is restful for you even as you move. For me walking and knitting and yoga are these things.