What Audre Lorde Knew About Rest That We’re Still Unlearning

We’ve been taught to earn rest by burning out first. But what if you didn’t need to justify your stillness?

We’re taught we need to earn our rest… after the work, after the hustle, after proving ourselves.

Even now, many of us sit down and immediately get fidgety. Shouldn’t I be accomplishing something? Producing? Optimizing? (Ugh.)

We’ve been conditioned to believe that rest is indulgent. That slowing down means falling behind, and ease is only allowed once we…