A Reminder To Rest

If I'm being totally honest, I don't really like writing. Writing was one of my least favorite aspects of school and I honestly would have never imagined that I'd be writing essay length pieces, on a weekly basis, voluntarily as an adult, lol. I don't even really know why I write. I tell myself it's to help others but the reality is, I'm probably the person who finds the most benefit in it. Though I rarely enjoy the process of writing, I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment and that I understand myself better after the writing is done. And when someone else finds value in what I have to share, that puts the icing on the cake.

When I started this newsletter, my goal was to publish something every week for the entirety of 2024 and I'm happy to say that so far, I've hit that goal! With today being the half-way point between the year, I thought it would be fair to treat myself to a Sunday where I don't have to spend so much time/energy on getting the newsletter out and instead can intentionally rest. I don't quite understand why, lol, but these newsletters usually take me anywhere from 6-8hrs to complete. Some of that time is for research but the vast majority of it is just fleshing out my ideas in a coherent way and then editing. I'm not saying this as a complaint but to hopefully give some context as to why I felt the need to take a break.

And I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to remind you to take a break! Rest should be a part of our daily routine. We've been raised in a culture that has programmed us to believe that rest is a reward. As if, rest is something that has to be earned by first performing labor. Well I'm here to say that life is labor enough, lol, and that you don't have to 'deserve' a break to take one. The whole idea of retirement perpetuates the conditioning that relaxing has to come after spending the majority of your time slaving away and while I understand the necessity of needing money in old age, I think, for the vast majority of us, we will have worked so hard that by the time we are of retirement age, there will be much less life left to enjoy. I could go on and on but I'm determined to keep this mini-newsletter brief.

Thank so you much for deciding to come on this journey with me. I hope that the first half of this year has been meaningful and transformative for you — it certainly has for me, and a big part of why is because you're reading this. It is much easier to commit to something when its purpose is bigger than yourself and even if only one other person got value out of these newsletters, that would be a big enough reason for me to keep going.

I hope you found some ease today and that this week brings you a pleasant surprise. It's Cancer SZN so get ready to talk about our feelings in July! 😬

With love,

Micheal Sinclair 💜