What does rest look like in your life?
Depending on the stage of your life, summer may not look much different than the rest of the year. For me, summer is a break from offering regular spiritual direction sessions to rest and receive. The resting part looks like sleeping a bit later than during the rest of the year, cooking simple meals and fewer meals and prioritizing work in ways that leaves chunks of free time.
The receiving part of my summer is largely about play. My favorite place to play is the water. We don’t have a pool, but I love to paddle board, kayak and even float down the river on a tube. This week I met two friends early in the morning to get out on the water. We paddled, we chatted and we swam, but on the way back we let the space between us grow. We each went at our own pace, content to let the only sound be that of our paddles in and out of the water.
What does play look like in your life? Do you do puzzles in your free time? Play games with your family? Go on outdoor adventures? Most importantly, do you play?
Sunday, Tish Harrison Warren published an opinion piece entitled “Can Everyone Take a Sabbatical?” (spoiler alert: in the US, the answer is a solid “no.”) While my own work has had a natural ebb and flow for the last decade - first as director of a homeschool tutorial and now as a spiritual director - my husband works a traditional 9 to 5 corporate job. That job allows me to pursue things like the aforementioned work and it provides our health insurance. But a few weeks of annual leave is far from a sabbatical, not to mention the stigma such a move might signal in that world. So how can we make rest and play part of our rhythm of life even if sabbaticals aren’t possible?
I don’t have easy answers and play looks different in some ways for my husband than it does for me. (He tolerates time on the water because he loves me, not because he loves the water.) What I do believe is that rest and play make us better - better parents, better spouses, even better workers. When we make time to rest and play, we learn more about who we really are, who we were really made to be.
The Water from Kinship: A Collection of Poems
Let's go to the water, her soul whispered
and she mourned the remembrance
of waves crashing
and salt on her skin
of seagulls swooping
and purple horizon meeting clear blue sky.
Let's go to the water, her soul pleaded
and she looked around her landlocked life
wondering "How?"
Until the morning of a walk
that led to a riverbed
with kayaks floating past
and water bubbling over rocks.
Let's go to the water, she said to her family
and with cajoling and sunscreen
they went.
Together they found laughter
and sunshine
and dappled light through tree branches.
They found rest and joy.
Let's go to the water, she said to herself.
Let's find peaceful lakes
rimmed by green leaves blowing in the wind.
Let's find strength and solitude.
Let's find quiet communion in creation.
Let's go to the water, her soul said
to remember who we are.
Book Corner:
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
Via Library Loan:
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
This book was long - too long for me. (I think part nine could have been cut altogether and I would have enjoyed it more.) I did enjoy the firsthand look at the 20th century history of India. If that’s not motivating for you, I’d give this one a pass.
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley
My husband recommended this one to me after he read it. So far, it’s a light follow-up to The Covenant of Water.
Via Library Audiobook:
Enchantment by Katherine May
This was a disappointing follow-up to Wintering. My best guess is that what we find enchanting differs from person to person.
May this week bring opportunities for rest and play.
Love,
Shannon