Letter 41: Truth Be Told.

This is exactly the 52nd publication of the ‘R’ Letter.

51 Wednesdays where I have shared my own, Tricia Hersey’s or someone else’s take on rest: what it means, what it looks like, what it could be. (The list of all the 'R' Letter is reproduced below).

?It has both felt slow and fast, easy and at times arduous. But throughout it all, it has kept me in check. I was not resting as much as I wanted or needed but I kept thinking about rest and others, a rhizomatic and coincidental community, kept mirroring my thoughts or feelings or bodily sensations about it. I am so thankful to all of the authors. When they say we are all part of a bigger whole, the ‘R’ Letter is, to me and perhaps to some of you, evidence of it.

Today is Thursday, and a special one at that, the day when we celebrate the Winter Solstice, readying ourselves to transition from light to dark and thereafter, hopefully, to light again.?

I wanted to publish this letter yesterday, as I have always done, but I could not. Truth be told, I am exhausted. I am (physically) burnt out. It has been months that I overwork.

I am lucky that I am passionate about what I do so my spirits are high; it’s just my body that is spent. After closing an important project last Friday, I am truly experiencing symptoms of deep exhaustion: slow and scattered brain, hard time to focus, back pain, low productivity, low motivation. I haven’t stopped yet because…

Because of many (bad) reasons; yet, I don’t want to judge myself as this would be unkind and the worst I could give myself right now. Instead, I am trying to be understanding and observant and to slow down and love myself in the most minute ways I can find.

?‘The truth that we may be afraid or unsure of how and when we will rest is valid. We can move through our guilt, shame, and fear that will emerge from reclaiming our bodies and time as our own. This is a vulnerable truth that we should not run from or hide.’ (Hersey 2022:95)

So if I face this truth, I know that I have to change (yet again) the way I work and live. This means taking stock of the fact that publishing the ‘R’ Letter weekly is perhaps too much on me, in the long run.

I held on for a year and for this I am proud but this project should precisely be the space time where I can experiment with doing less and differently. I am not entirely sure of how it will look like but I know that I want the project to continue, only at a slow speed that mirrors what it stands for and what I need.

‘Rest is real-life conversations.

I don’t know any other way to go.

Rest is the road map.

The guiding force – a truth teller.

Rest is a meeting with self.

With a typed agenda.’

(Hersey 2022: 101)

Be assured that you shall read me / us again in January.

Wishing us all a rest-bound and hopeful transition.

May we celebrate as much as possible in peace, comfort, safety and with loved ones.

Letter 0: Welcome.

Letter 1: Soliloquy.

Letter 2: Wonder.

Letter 3: Depth.

Letter 4: Step off.

Letter 5: Balance.

Letter 6: Grace.

Letter 7: Third Eye.

Letter 8: Great.

Letter 9: Minimalist.

Letter 10: Creation.

Letter 11: Build.

Letter 12: Evolved.

Letter 13: Alive.

Letter 14: Lifetime.

Letter 15: Learning.

Letter 16: Stubborn.

Letter 17: Leisure.

Letter 18: Truly.

Letter 19: Acceptance.

Letter 20: Zen.

Letter 21: Noting.

Letter 22: Honor.

Letter 23: Daydream.

Letter 24: Accomplishment.

Letter 25: Full.

Letter 26: Ripple.

Letter 27: Unplug.

~~

Postcard 1: ‘Like breezes. Somewhere.’

Postcard 2: ‘Pause, Rest, Be.’

Postacard 3: ‘Nomadland’

Postcard 4: ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’

Postcard 5: ‘Hang In There’

Postcard 6: ‘leave the room and face the waves’

~~

Letter 28: ‘Invisible Waters’.

Letter 29: Learn.

Letter 30: Reclaim.

Letter 31: Limit.

Letter 32: Shift.

Letter 33: Chronic/le.

Letter 34: Re~st(art).

Letter 35: Adopt.

Letter 36: Regain.

Letter 37: Discovery.

Letter 38: Block(s).

Letter 39: Rearticulation.

Letter 40: Counterpart.

~~~?

Fragment 1: Prayer.

Fragment 2: Why we resist.

Fragment 3: Hope.

Fragment 4: Human Right.

Welcome to the ‘R’ Letter.

R for ‘Rest’.

Not a privilege, nor a taboo.

A primary need we all have.

Every Wednesday, the ‘R’ Letter sheds light on a professional and their relationship to Rest.

The ‘R’ Letter is curated by Bérénice K. Schramm as an applied research project based on Tricia Hersey ’s trailblazing book Rest is Resistance (2022) and decade-long work at The Nap Ministry.