Permission to rest

catching up with myself + lots of links

Deep in my luteal phase, today feels like I’m trudging through the mud. In this phase I am extra prickly, quicker to stress, & unrushed to feel to ease. But with shifting plans & things going awry, life is asking me to move extra slowly, extra gently. So I eat my lunch, I sit, I listen to podcasts, I breathe in fresh air, I hang out with my cat, and I rest.

Permission to rest has not always come easily to me, but I’ve spent the last many years peeling back the layers that tell me I must be in a constant state of movement, always productive, never relaxing — & thank god for that. Hustle culture has never served me well, and frankly I don’t know anyone it serves well to begin with.

When I reflect on letting go of the constant need to be hustling, I feel grateful. I feel grateful that I am in a place where I can notice that I’m extra crunchy & low, and instead of judging myself or pathologizing it, I simply rest.

So, I take my sweet slow time, I let my feelings come up, I let myself be crunchy. I trust that if I let myself surrender to feeling the crunchiness — feeling whatever is there — that it will pass almost as quickly as it came.

Today, it is a perfect day to rest. The sky is gray, the leaves are fallen from the trees, it’s raining, and home feels cozy.

May there always be permission to rest, for me & mine and you & yours.

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It’s been a minute since I’ve sent an IN THE PORTAL, so I’ve got lots of links! Here’s what has been circulating in my portal of delights for the last few weeks ~

🤲🏼 My heart is and continues to be with the people in Gaza, and I continue to take in new information & find new ways to keep learning and be of service. I am committed to not giving up hope in these times. Keep reading Fariha Roisin’s substack for more information.

➡️ Some accounts that I’ve found incredibly helpful in learning more about what’s happening in Gaza: Bisan, Motaz, AJ+, Subhi, Plestia, Eye on Palestine, Lara, and Ahmed, to name a few.