Float in the black / and stay there / if you need to
Something can be a privilege without being pleasurable. The (absence of) one does not negate the (reality of the) other.
Is rest a presence or an absence? Does it mean the abundance of something or the lack of something else? Is it both? Does it vary? What has to be true for you to rest, to be rested?
What is the difference between rest and restoration?
For me rest is the absence of interruptions, or of the possibility of an interruption at any moment. It is permission to turn off alarms, timers, notifications, alerts. It is permission for immersion. It is the absence of guilt about disconnecting.
This feels harder and harder to achieve and yet more and more necessary to enable.
Attribution:
Train your nerves
to keep a balanced pace
and stay within
the lines
of steady flow.
Push forward
without putting
too much
pressure
on movement.
Remember
to return to water
when your spirit
and its frame
are in drought.
Treat your body
like a well-rounded planet
built for all seasons,
or pretend you are
an adaptable star:
Float in the black
and stay there
if you need to,
save some light
for yourself.
In other words,
rest like the sun does:
Schedule some time
to stay out of sight
when too many people
praise warm energy.
— from Give Yourself Some Flowers by Marcus Amaker