rest is a discipline, too
doing less is harder than it looks
Listen to this month’s playlist ‘There is no individual without the whole’ here.
Why is it so hard to rest?
I’ve been at a quiet homestay in Huê for the past three weeks and almost every day has poured heavy rain from morning until night. After a month and a half of bouncing around Thailand and southern Vietnam, this weather and being on the outskirts of town is a welcome excuse to stay still for a while. Huê is a green city in central Vietnam and the birthplace of Thich Nhat Hanh (who I’ll refer to as Thay going forward). Turning up here was a matter of synchronicity – my prior accommodation in a beach city further south fell through and I made a last minute choice to see what other notable places were nearby. With little research, I found this home a short five minute stroll from Tu Hieu Pagoda, Thay’s root temple where he became a monk at 16 years old and was laid to rest at 95 years old.
Christmas in my rural homestay passed with little fuss and since the new year in Vietnam is traditionally celebrated on the first full moon of the year, January 1st arrived without attention. That morning I sat on the floor journaling intentions and goals for the upcoming year. Reading my list back to myself I noticed it was full of career-oriented goals and productivity building habits. Considering that my deepest desires have nothing to do with work or producing, I wondered why I’d spent almost an hour focusing on where I lack and what I could do more of. When it comes to setting intentions for the new calendar year, I know I’m not alone in orienting the list towards more effort in several arenas.
Coming back to what I truly want to cultivate, I wrote down that I want to find more ways to fit sincere rest into my life. Even while resting, I’m doing something – reading, listening to music or checking into social media, leaving my mind heavy and exhausted. This year I want to create more pockets where I do absolutely nothing and find embodied rest outside of sleep.