Finished reading: Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey 📚
This was a good choice to read closely after “How to Do Nothing”, because the two treat similar themes of resistance.
For O’Dell, doing nothing is resistance in place against the powers that will steal our attention. For Hersey, rest is resistance against grind culture and the structures of white supremacy and capitalism that keep us on their hamster wheel.
The book has a pretty clear premise - we’ve been brainwashed into participating in the exploitation of our own labor for the profit and benefit of others. This has its roots not only in capitalism, but in white supremacy - today’s exploitation traces its lineage back to the United States' dependence on slave labor for much of its early economic development.
The primary act of resistance is rest, in all its forms: naps, closing one’s eyes and sitting quietly, meditation, prayer, self-care, pacing oneself, living with balance as best one can.
Hersey’s own experience of burnout led her to develop this theory and practice of rest. She drew inspiration from womanist thought and from the example of the “maroons” - Africans who escaped from slavery and lived free in the South in secret enclaves.
When we rest rather than give in to grind culture, we take back our power over our lives, and we acknowledge and affirm that we don’t need to do things to be worthy.
As someone recovering from burnout right now, Hersey’s message resonated with me. Unfortunately there was a lot of repetitive content when she explained the main pillars of her ideas, so I felt the book could have used another round of editing. That said, it was well worth reading for the ideas and I’d highly recommend the book to others.