Restoration is Revolutionary

Picture it. Forty grown folk laying on mats on a Thursday evening in SW Atlanta’s Black Mecca space. Led by Dr. Tricia Hersey, founder of the Nap Ministry and author of the book Rest is Resistance. She brought home the power of rest and had us contemplate on what messages we had been continuously and even creatively fed that ‘work is first’. Get your grind on. Hustle, hustle, hustle. Whatever it takes. Lean in. Go the extra mile. From can’t see to can’t see. That’s what my ancestors were known to call their days toiling in the cotton fields and slaveholder’s houses. Work from the dark of the dawn when you can’t see to the dark of dusk when you can’t see.

Makes me wanna holla! As I think of these ideas, I work to erase them from my mind. Bunk that stuff. Well… those aren’t actually the words I’m thinking. I’m just keeping it PG for now.

I know we have earned the right to rest and in fact, we need rest to thrive and sustain ourselves. Spiritually, we need to rest for our ancestors who never got the chance.  And yet, I still feel pangs of guilt when I take a break in the middle of my work day. In my own home, I tend to stay out of the kitchen, den, living room, okay every room except the occasional trip to the bathroom and the home office. 

I want to be clear. I have made much progress. I don’t get or make business calls after 5 pm unless timing requires it. That’s very infrequent for me. And my weekends are mine!!! Those days on my calendar. Blank for a reason. 

On that day with Dr. Hersey, on those mats, we took a real nap. For about 40 minutes, most of us closed our eyes and went to La-La land. Some sat in the stillness and even those who found it hard as hell enjoyed it. When we awoke and shared dreams and visions, several people had the same ones! It was magical. 

The words rest, restoration and restorative are connected in a beautiful way. When I awoke from that collective nap, I felt rested, restored and ready to start anew.

I invite you to reflect on the messages you have received, embraced or rejected about rest. Including naps for grown folk. And breaks from the work flow in the middle of the day. 

I was recently observing a typical day in a Boys and Girls Club and watched the youth eat an afterschool snack and a more substantial snack at 5:30 called Supper (that day it was chicken salad, crackers, cheese, cookies, applesauce and a juice box). I sure wanted one and yet I noticed no adults were eating the snack or anything else for that matter. I had been there since 2 pm and when I later asked if the adults are allowed to eat the supper, the reaction suggested my idea was novel. “Oh, we don’t eat until the Club closes and we go home.” So from 1:30 to 7:30, nothing to eat. No break. No moment to restore.  School culture is similar (although most teachers I know do eat something during their long days). We have somehow associated the sacrifice of taking time for self as a bad thing, selfish if you will. Yeah, selfish in the most self-sustaining ways. 

Slowing down is a countercultural idea that deserves some love. In the Listening 4 Justice (L4J) experience, we slow everything down which fosters deep listening. Here is what a few Listeners had to say after a few L4J gatherings, 

I’m slowing down. I’m listening. I’m taking things in, letting them grow and deciding how to take action.

People are ready and the slow pace feels different than the rest of the world. 

L4J Participants

The rest of the world? Wow! That’s how you know it’s revolutionary. It’s not popular, yet you know it’s right. Just like I knew it felt right when I awoke from that rejuvenating collective experience with Dr. Hersey and 40 co-nappers.

Commit to rest. To snack time. To a mid-day nap. To doing absolutely nothing. To a new way of thinking. Those sensations of what freedom and liberation feels like that tingle inside of you when you are chilling in the way you feel most chill are real. And the more you feel them, the more restored you will be.