Rest is resistance
Are you tired? When was the last time you felt rested?
We are all pushed by grind culture to the limit, but for neurodivergent people this question might especially sting.
Tricia Hersey’s brilliant book Rest is Resistance is a manifesto calling for us to resist the demands of capitalism, and with it white supremacy, through rest.
‘Capitalism is new. Our bodies are ancient.’
Hersey says that once we slow down and engage in restful practice, we connect to our bodies and our imaginations are unlocked, revealing our path to liberation. Rest is key to the project of deprogramming our minds from the lie that our worth as humans is based on our productivity as well as unravelling our bodies of the violence of capitalism.
Slavery in America was an example of how black bodies were pushed to exhaustion for maximum profit. Hersey connects this to the white supremacy values we see in the present day, where perfectionism, individualism and urgency keep us trapped in cycles of work and exhaustion.
Autistic burnout is the manifestation of capitalism’s violence to our bodies. In a world where people can go at their own paces and rhythms, and not have to mask to get their needs met, there would be no burn out.
Hersey is keen to stress that rest is not there to prepare us for more labour. We also do not have to earn rest through exhaustion.
If rest is resistance to the violence of capitalism, where do we begin?
When we see ourselves as in competition with other humans for resources, we become machine-like, ignoring our bodies’ calls for rest. We grow up learning to disconnect from our bodies in order to cope with this. The first step, then, is re-connecting to our bodies. This means listening to and answering the calls to rest.
Unmasking is a form of resistance and also a way to rest. When you rest, you feel safe being yourself.
I am interested in what rest can look like for ADHDers. Boredom and stillness can be unbearable. Speed is often more comfortable than slowness. How do we untangle this ADHD normal from capitalistic urgency?
Hersey says that healing comes from listening to your body. The answers only arising once your imagination is unlocked in rest. This is somatic, not cognitive, and certainly not consumable as a product that you can buy. In some ways, this mirrors the therapy process.
I am curious about the role of therapy in this rest practice. Therapy is something sold and bought, it cannot exist outside of capitalism, but it’s also a place for listening to what your body is saying and using your imagination to consider a better life and maybe a better world.
