On Rest

As my dog is recovering from spay surgery and I am allowing myself to take a sick day for the first time since I can remember, I am thinking a lot about the concept of rest. If you’re here, you’re probably a giver - of thoughtful gifts to the people you love, of your time to others, of your heart. And if you’re a giver, you may be like me and find it challenging to allow yourself to pause, slow down, and rest. But what if resting was not looked at as putting a halt on things, but actually seen as another way of giving - only this time, to yourself?

Sometimes I make art to share with others, sometimes I make art to sell, and other times, in the quiet of the evening, I make art just for me. Tucked into my sketchbook or pinned to the wall in front of my desk, as a reminder of what I want to see and how I want to show up for myself.

As we approach the holidays, we givers often go on overdrive. So, in this October time, I invite you to consider how you might also make space to give to yourself. Will you allow yourself the luxury of vanilla in your latte? A day off to do nothing? A long chat with a good friend when you could be getting things done? What decadence will you give to yourself?

For me, taking a day off to reset is feeling like the luxurious equivalent of covering myself in pearls, laying on a velvet chaise and being fed bon-bons all day. For you, it might be something else entirely. I encourage you to find your own version of this luxury, this rest. And, if you’d like help creating it an artistic memento of it, let me know.

Don’t stop giving. Just make room to give to yourself, too.