Good God, Let’s Rest!

Ahhhhhhhh, 2020 is finally coming to an end.  I don’t even know what to say!  I was thinking about reflecting on all that we’ve learned – both having to slow down and pare down, as well as ramp up, mobilizling our horror to action.  But action toward foundational social justice, not profit or productivity. 

But really I just want to hunker down, wrap a fuzzy blanket around me and sloooooooowly exhale.  I, as I’m sure we all do, long for hugs!  For physical comfort and connection, for bodily warmth and rich foods.  I want family and friends – 6 inches away, not 6 feet.  I want to rest.

I know we must continue the good fight in 2021.  I’m so afraid I, and we as a nation, will lose our motivation and sink into apathy when things start to get a little better and we just want to zone out.

Maybe that’s why I’m reserving December for that apathy.  Or more fairly termed – rest.  I have come to see rest in a different light than ever before.  I am known for working hard and playing hard.  Heck, I’m a good “American.”  But this year, all of that came to a screeching halt.  For most of us.  And in that void, I noticed “rest” peeking out meekly from behind the frenetic tornados of energy.  It looked so soft and content, even if small and humble.  Like a bunny rabbit taking a nap in the backyard grass.

I wrestled with allowing myself to slow down.  I felt in turns, guilty, lazy, bored, and purposeless.  My meditation practiced helped, however.  I’ve had a chance to reflect on the years of my own Action that led to this year.  I had a chance to connect with everyone – literally everyone in the world, famous, ordinary, north, south, urban, rural, Black, white – in a different and simpler way.  I had a chance to recalibrate toward my deepest beliefs and priorities.  Those humble, unshiny currents that are always underneath, just waiting for you to fall from the sky so you can see them under your feet this whole time.

I love writing these blogs, because they allow me to articulate and therefore focus on such things, that so often we don’t have “time” to really focus on. 

I am feeling now like it is okay to rest.  And not just okay, but essential.  Essential to “sucking the marrow” out of the active life around us.  Essential to avoid getting swept up in the shiny tornadoes that so easily take us off course.  Essential, then, to making Right Action, and truly BEING that action in our every cell.  Where subject and object disappear and there is just BEING.

So this is what I wish for you: a long, delicious rest.  Where the connections and comforts, as humble as they may be, rise to meet you, and you let them envelop you without having to do anything at all.  Where you are held.  Fulfilled.  Rejuvenated. 

Happy end of 2020.