Take A Break
Take a break — a phrase stuck in my head since I saw Hamilton in theaters last weekend. It’s probably coincidental, but it was fitting for the kind of week I had. Despite having so much to do and being excited to do my work, I was experiencing low energy and physical pain, and was kind of forced to take a break.
Well, kind of a break. I had energy for one thing and one thing only — promoting my Kickstarter. By the way, we are fully funded and more so! This children’s book on diversity and inclusion is gonna be made all thanks to your support! Shameless plug-in — if you want a copy, you can Venmo $25/book to @embracewhoweare.
I tried to do more than the Kickstarter. I wanted to, but that one day I did an interview for my local news promoting the Kickstarter, I was wiped out and had to chill for the rest of the day. It was just a 40 minute interview! Who knew life in the media could be so exhausting?!
Being creative requires a lot of physical and mental energy. I didn’t want to listen to the call that I needed to rest. I had a moment of annoyance because I wanted to do more because I believed that I could do more. I had a moment of shaming myself because I didn’t understand why I could be creatively awesome at my work one week and then the next be completely wiped out. I felt that I was letting people down and was becoming one of those unreliable creatives.
And on top of that, there was the week-long cloudy and rainy weather. Thus, this raincoat outfit which was pretty much an outfit of the week. But yeah, I went there. I blamed the weather for my inability to do my work. That is a real thing, but my blaming the weather showed I wasn't willing to give time to rest. There had to be a legitimate reason, like sickness, because resting to recover my creative energy just isn’t a thing. Oooff, America’s hustle culture!
Back in April, I met with Pinay artist Dev Heyrana. In our conversation she talked about how she takes a week off after every three weeks of work. She said, “Your creativity needs it!” I heard it as if she had said it in passing, nodding in agreement, but it didn’t really register. What Dev said nagged at me this past week. Give yourself a break. And that commitment came with a timeline! A full week for every three weeks of work. It’s intimidating!
I had a moment of guilt, but I did it. I took a nap — about 3 hours worth of naps this week (I found that I like to nap to Seinfeld). And I allowed myself to just go with the flow. If I wanted to watch TV, I did it. If I need to nap more. I napped more. I feel kind of shy admitting that I gave that much time to rest, but I cut my sleep debt down to zero and I’m here on this Saturday writing this piece with clarity. And now I’m declaring that I need Dr. Alex Pang’s book, The Power of Rest. Manifesting and acknowledging good works by AAPI brilliants on this AAPI History Month. I really need to embrace rest!
Now I end this piece with some quotes on rest:
“Might I suggest, Master Bruce, that you take a break. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you soon won’t know your right hand from your left.” — Alfred from Batman, The Animated Series, S1 E44, Off Balance
“If you take your time, you will make your mark / look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now / close your eyes and dream / we can go when the night gets dark / take a break.” — Take a Break from Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda
And we all know what happens when Hamilton doesn't take that break.
“A block of time never magically makes itself available for rest. You have to make time for it and you have to defend it.” — Dr. Alex Pang, The Power of Rest for Calm Masterclass
“It’s scared, like the minnow. Just chill out.” — Craig, Craig of the Creek, S2 E37, Beyond the Rapids
I know this is referring to the Mer-kid, but I like to think that when creatives don’t chill, we scare away our creativity.
“Very often, a week of insights will be followed by a week of sluggishness. . . marathon runners suggest you log ten slow miles for every fast one. The same holds true for creativity.” — The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Do you block out time for rest or are you like me, wishing for a block of time to appear and your body breaks down, forcing you to rest? Don’t be like me.
I’m wearing a Sandy Liang ruffle collar blouse from Target, The ReNew Anorak and white long sleeve top from Everlane, Topshop trousers, Reeboks, and Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip in Eggplant.
