Making Space for Rest by Sareh Donaher
The term rest is loaded for me, and I think for most of us. As a society we find it difficult to rest- I see this with friends, family members, and co-workers. We have a need, a drive to always be productive, we have shame and guilt around rest and taking breaks-- this collective culture, wherever it stems from (ahem- Capitalism, maybe) comes at a heavy price: our health, and in turn our productivity. We are not our best selves when we lack energy and vitality. We cannot produce our best work when we are depleted. And although countless scientific studies prove this to be true, many of us still struggle with letting go of the industrial-age attitude of work and productivity.
My struggle with rest dates to my teen years. Even back then, I found it very hard to heed the call to rest, I suffered from FOMO in a high school full of over-achievers and in my household, it was seen as pure laziness to sleep-in past 9 AM, so I was always go-go-go, ignoring the signs of needing rest until it was too late- read: too sick to do anything but rest. This cycle continued through the decades, even as my FOMO decreased, because I put everything ahead of rest. Not only did I feel guilty to rest, but I also did not recognise my body’s signs asking for rest nor did I know how to rest. It took my career in writing to finally help me honour the need for rest, give it space in my daily life, and value its role because I discovered I could not write well without rest.
Through my work as a writer, I have learned that making time for rest, as a daily practice is a crucial part of the creative process. As Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Ph.D. in History of Science and Corporate Planning, writes in his book, Rest: Why You Get More Done, rest is an integral part of work- the two cannot be separated. I can personally attest to that fact. My brain needs to be well rested and refreshed to be clever, my emotional stamina needs to be restored for me to face emotional authenticity, a key element of writing, and my mind needs clarity to be creative and astute.
Since I have struggled with the idea of rest for so long, it took time to implement it as an integral part of my work and life. First, I had to learn the earliest signs of needing rest and once I did, I discovered that my body has a predictable rhythm: natural times of day where work comes easily and times of day where rest is most required. I use this natural rhythm to build my workday schedule, so I build my productivity around rest. Not only has this made me more productive, but it is also more sustainable long term.
The next question became what is rest? The delightful discovery I made was that rest comes in varying forms. The body communicates what it needs for rest and our job is to listen and provide the activity with the intention to take a break away from work. Sometimes all we need is to go to bed early. Other times sweating and moving helps the brain get rejuvenated and gain clarity. And other times it means turning away from work and being intentional with whatever non-work activity it is we are doing.
Currently, instead of jumping straight to work once I have taken everyone to school, I take an hour of time away from my work to work out. While I work out, sometimes I think about the writing project I have for the day and other times I don’t think about work at all and instead consume a good podcast or great music-- either way, this break from work before I sit down to work clears my brain, making me more productive. At lunchtime, I make a point to stop working and eat away from my computer. After lunch, I work until I must become a mom again, at which point I clock-out and I don’t put any more pressure on myself to continue writing.
This year, by the start of summer, it became evident that I needed more than just a daily rest— I was lagging in my work and creatively tapped-out-- I needed a vacation from work. I had not taken one since changing careers, and it was impacting my productivity and motivation. It was easy to take a vacation in my old career as a teacher because it was in my work calendar, but now as someone who is self-employed in a creative field that they love, I must remind myself that I need an actual vacation from my job, even if the work is my passion. As the actor/writer/visual artist Annie Wood says, “We need to stop and put air in the tires. We can’t run on flats.” Countless research studies in neuroscience prove that an extended period of downtime encourages creativity and productivity, replenishes the brain’s stores of motivation and attention, and is essential to achieve our highest levels of performance. (Scientific American, Ferris Jabr, October 15, 2013). And, as predicted by science, I got back to work rejuvenated with increased mental focus, creativity, and productivity.
Rest away from work is particularly important for writers because we need the space away from our written work to come back to it with greater clarity for better revisions. Early on at The Writer’s Studio I learned that 50% of the writing process is revising and editing, and I believe we need space away from our work to acutely examine it and be critical enough to make good revisions.
The crazy thing is, although we all know we need rest and want it, we deny ourselves the break. I don’t know why we are so masochistic (ahem, Industrialism and Capitalism) but this view that rest and work are separate things is incorrect. They are inextricably linked and must be equally valued.
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Sareh Donaher is a 2018 graduate of Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio. Her debut full-length poetry collection, Pistachios in my Pocket (forthcoming Fall 2022 with At Bay Press) tells the story of her family’s escape from Iran during the Iranian Revolution and their experiences as first wave Iranian immigrants to Canada. Sareh is the co-founder of The Wordshop Collective, a boutique writing and editing firm, and has published poems in Sky Island Journal, The Elephant Journal, Pelak52, and various other publications. Sareh currently lives on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish, šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tseil-Waututh) Nations with her husband and two children.
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