You don’t earn your rest. You need it. And giving yourself permission to stop might be the most radical act of courage we have left.
Let us begin with my edited lyrics that I feel perfectly encapsulate the spirit of this season:
It's the most stressful-est time of the year
There'll be infinite desserts, and endless school concerts,
Obligations you fear!
It's the most most stressful-est time of the year
It's the aw- awfulest season of all
With the sickness o'erflowing, the anger keeps growing
Still you schlep to the mall...
It's the aw- awfulest season of all
There'll be parties you're loathing,
Ugly sweaters as "clothing",
And freezing while dealing with snow.
There'll be scary sale emails,
Fam'ly overshare details,
and kids always calling out "Bro!"
It's the most stressful-est time of the year
With the calendar brimming, your self care is skimping
And you're s'pposed to find cheer?!
It's the most stressful-est time
Like a constant uphill climb,
It's the most stressful-est time...of the year!
Thank you, thank you. <Takes a virtual bow>
Isn't it just lovely that we can use humor to call out the juxtaposition of cheer, love, peace and joy woven together with exhaustion, disappointment, overstimulation — and the kind of hangovers caffeine can’t fix?!?!
Hint: That's sarcasm.
And no, calling out the dichotomy doesn't make me a scrooge.
Unless being a realist is synonymous with being a Scrooge, I am guilty.
But WHY do we choose this madness on an annual basis? Especially when it doesn't have to be that way. There is a way to increase the cheer, love, peace and joy while decreasing the exhaustion, disappointment, overstimulation and hangovers.
It's not some fancy complicated spell you have to cast before Thanksgiving. And it isn't something you need to buy during the height of the consumerism/capitalism foxtrot.
Rest. It's choosing rest.
Intentionally.
With priority.
It really is that simple (Note: I didn't say easy)
Because bottom line: Even Santa takes a nap, y’all. And he only works one day a year.
🔋⚠️ The Pressure to Perform
We live in a world that confuses productivity with worth. Somewhere along the way, rest stopped being a birthright and started feeling like a luxury item—one that had to be earned through exhaustion.
It’s no wonder we don’t know how to stop. Productivity culture sold us the story that slowing down is failure. That if you’re not growing, scaling, improving, optimizing, you’re somehow falling behind. I wish I could say it was simple to dismantle this cultural phenomenon.
Even our downtime has been hijacked: meditation apps that track streaks, yoga studios that push “power,” vacations planned like military operations. We’ve turned restoration into performance.
And under all that hustle hums the quiet shame of stillness—
“I should be doing more.”
“Other people have it worse.”
“Rest is for people who have time.”
No. Rest is for people who have bodies.
💀🧘♀️ The Nervous System Doesn't Lie
You can override your calendar. You can silence the notifications. But your body? She’ll eventually pull the emergency brake.
Fatigue, brain fog, irritability, the “holiday flu” that somehow arrives right after the last party—these aren’t moral failings; they’re messages. Your nervous system is screaming for regulation, not one more cup of coffee.
In somatic work we say, “The body always keeps score, but she’s also willing to forgive.” When we allow ourselves to rest—not collapse, but truly regulate—we’re telling the body: You’re safe now.
Rest isn’t weakness.
It’s recalibration.
It’s what allows joy to return, digestion to resume, patience to rebuild.
Without it, burnout becomes our baseline and resentment our anthem.
✊🏾💤Rest as Rebellion
Rest has always been a radical act—especially in a culture that treats exhaustion like a badge of honor. But it’s deeper than just “self-care.”
As Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry teaches, our modern relationship to productivity was built on exploitation. The very systems that taught us to measure worth by output were born on plantations—where Black bodies were literally worked to death in service of profit.
That legacy didn’t disappear; it evolved. Capitalism still whispers that rest is laziness, that stillness is wasted potential. But when we rest, we resist. We refuse to let those same systems claim our energy as their currency.
So when you choose to nap instead of grind, say no instead of prove, you’re not being lazy—you’re dismantling centuries-old programming that tells us our value is in what we produce.
Sometimes the most subversive thing you can do is close your eyes.
💗 Redefining Rest
Rest isn’t just sleeping or doing nothing. It’s doing what brings you back to yourself.
For some, that’s stillness. For others, it’s movement—long walks, journaling, dancing in the kitchen. Rest can look like boundaries. Or silence. Or creativity, laughter, prayer, play.
What matters is the “sacred pause.”
That moment you stop performing and start listening.
Rest isn’t the absence of productivity; it’s the presence of peace. It’s integration. It’s when the dust of your days finally settles, and you can hear your own heartbeat again.
Reframing rest as rebellion reminds us that slowing down isn’t falling behind—it’s falling back in rhythm with yourself.
🌀 The Courage to Do Nothing
Doing it scared doesn’t always mean d o i n g something.
Sometimes the scariest thing isn’t doing...it’s stopping, on purpose—even when it terrifies you.
Because rest can feel unsafe when your nervous system has only ever known chaos. Stillness can feel like failure when your self-worth was built on motion.
But courage lives here too—in the exhale.
In saying no.
In canceling plans.
In skipping the damn matching-pajama photo if it costs your peace.
Give yourself the permission slip you’ve been waiting for:
To stop.
To soften.
To not earn a single breath of rest.
Because every time you choose restoration over performance, you’re not quitting—you’re healing.
💭 Reflection Prompt:
Where in your life are you mistaking exhaustion for achievement?
What would it look like to give yourself permission to stop?
Feel free to share your reflection!
Be strong. Do it scared. 💜
