radical rest
by Keely Adler · updated 1mo ago
radical rest
by Keely Adler · updated 1mo ago
The world thinks rest, recovery, and general refusal of work is gross. You can — and should — do it anyway. ●
Keely Adler added 4mo ago
I understand the cautions against leaning into depressive episodes. I also understand how many things that people label “indicators of depression” are also 1) forms of deep rest and 2) general resistance to the idea that every day should be filled with lists of things to do , places to be , productivity to exalt. And as Refinery29 writer Sabdhbh O’
... See moreKeely Adler added 4mo ago
Keely Adler added 1mo ago
That hour or so in bed letting a blue light slowly erode my retinas was my little feral rat time when I could dissociate and drift off into a peaceful (read: fraught and unsettled) sleep.
Keely Adler added 4mo ago
Sleep is fine (but it has to be “productive” deep sleep, no naps!!); self-care is fine (so long as it also involves buying things, resisting aging, etc. etc.); exercise is great (disciplining and regimenting the body). But truly doing nothing, not even birding, not even gentle walking, not even organizing , where’s the moral value in that?
Keely Adler added 4mo ago
“structureless structure” is in place so that a good amount of agency and experience-making can happen. When I say experience making, I mean, how open is the space? I have no interest in curating an experience based on what I want folks to take away from their respite,
Keely Adler added 4mo ago
Keely Adler added 4mo ago
As a certified bed rotting girlie™️ myself, I can say my horizontality is both restorative and avoidant, and when I work from bed, it can even be productive ( it’s giving Prousting ). Sometimes laying down is just laying down. Other times it’s a depressive episode. The question is: are you in your rot era or is your rot era in you?
—Mariam Sharia p
... See moreKeely Adler added 4mo ago
The term bedrotting screams the quiet part aloud: when the ability to work is cherished above all else, rest has to be framed as abject.
Keely Adler added 4mo ago
The question of impact is my favorite. If the people doing the impacting are tired and sick and frustrated and have all these needs that are not being met, what good is that impact? The quality of work that we can do for each other depends on the quality of care that we’re experiencing and cultivating for ourselves. I can’t say that enough.
Keely Adler added 4mo ago