Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto

by Tricia Hersey

“Every shut eye ain’t sleep. I am resting my eyes and listening for what God wants to tell me.”

All of culture is collaborating for us not to rest.

Grind culture is a collaboration between white supremacy and capitalism. It views our divine bodies as machines. Our worth is not connected to how much we produce. Another way is possible.

living under a capitalist system is to be confronted with a model of scarcity. This space makes you falsely believe there is not enough of everything: not enough money, not enough care, not enough love, not enough attention, not enough peace, not enough connection, not enough time. There is abundance.

don’t believe we will get to freedom from grind culture by doing more of the same and aligning ourselves with any corporate wellness message that does not get to the root of the issue. To not illuminate the systems making us unwell is to bypass the heart and soul of justice work.

I know that I was not born to simply exhaust myself inside a violent system.

Black liberation is a balm for all humanity and this message is for all those suffering from the ways of white supremacy and capitalism. Everyone on the planet, including the planet itself, is indeed suffering from these two systems. The way in which this suffering manifests for each group is unique to their history.

Fannie Lou Hamer, a freedom fighter and civil rights icon, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both had this interconnectedness idea as a central organizing principle. Their quotes: “No one is free until we are all free” and “No one is free until everybody’s free,” identical in energy and truth.

What if we simply saw our birth and living and breathing and connection with ourselves and our families as enough?

Resting can look like: Closing your eyes for ten minutes. A longer shower in silence. Meditating on the couch for twenty minutes. Daydreaming by staring out of a window. Sipping warm tea before bed in the dark. Slow dancing with yourself to slow music. Experiencing a Sound Bath or other sound healing. A Sun Salutation. A twenty-minute timed nap. Praying. Crafting a small altar for your home. A long, warm bath. Taking regular breaks from social media. Not immediately responding to texts and emails. Deep listening to a full music album. A meditative walk in nature. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting. Playing a musical instrument. Deep eye contact. Laughing intensely.

Grind culture is violence.

We are resting not to do more and to come back stronger and more productive for a capitalist system. Rest is not a luxury or a privilege.

Imagine what it would feel like, taste like, and smell like to believe you don’t have to prove who you are by your accomplishments and labor. This is at the core of this work and the foundation of imagining a new way. The culture we live under does not point you toward this deep truth. It instead has told you and reinforced the idea that you came into the world to be a machine, to accomplish, to labor, and to do.

We aren’t told that it’s possible to live a life that makes space for deep rest, care, leisure, and space. It is not only possible. It is happening and it is the foundation that will usher in a new world. We cannot continue to ignore our bodies while aligning with grind culture.

Rest disrupts and makes space for invention.