Rest is underrated. Resting on weekends even more so. Resting during holidays is hardly a norm. In a world of consumption, bucket lists or checklists creation, and fulfilment, how do we return to baseline levels without overburdening ourselves? While there is never a right way of doing this, can a little bit of understanding might make it less hard?

At work, the conversation-starter often revolves around ‘what are your plans for the weekend’ on Fridays and ‘did you have a good weekend’ on Mondays. While it may always be well-intentioned, this incentivises the doing/done verbs. And in the wrong way. Isn’t it the same with holidays? One may feel guilty of wasting away a destination-holiday by doing nothing. (I’m referring to the holidays intended to taking a break, and not one of those truly formative/transformative travels we have all undertaken) Not performing the activities a place may be known for, not seeing (forget experiencing) the popular sights, or not trying out the eateries recommended on the guides. Why so? While you could include dopamine-inducing activities, too much of it throughout is what results in the so-called travel hangover. An online observation to this pattern is in posts like ‘mentally, I’m here’ with a photo of the place they might have recently visited. I have learnt this the hard way. Hiking, taking images, willingness to explore the local cuisines in-depth, or even just soaking in the nature experience can be overwhelming. I used to perceive it as part of taking a break. Euphoria-inducing experiences are what we may crave, but what we may need might be the same in moderation. A balancing act we may never master, yet an awareness which could help us in small ways.

Rest is well documented in the fitness and sport world. The creative community fondly terms it as ‘doing nothing’ as a way to pause exerting any kind of mental load. Nutrition has its own form of rest and reset with acts of intermittent fasting. Social-breaks and exhaustion is a reality and a necessity. What seldom gets talked about is the resting phase combining all the three: physical, mental and social. A day of reset. Go nowhere, meet no one, create nothing. Let the body repair the tissues, let the mind marinate thoughts and experiences in a semi-boredom state. My belief and experience points to this as the most effective form of rest: to recuperate, restore, and rejuvenate.

Needless to mention, this post was borne out of a rest day. Scribbled thoughts which formed into a structured write up on the day-after the rest.