Mandy here! I’m only just getting around to writing about a month off I had in August because…life, work, admin, chores, caring responsibilities. I am well and truly back into the rollercoaster of juggling life, social expectations, the systems we are all a part of and the challenges we all have. 

In August, I had the privilege of having a month off. My partner Alice, my dog Freddie and I jumped in our yellow camper van and drove to Norway. We had surfboards, paddle boards, bikes. Our house was on wheels. We had an open road. It was overwhelming, but I was truly grateful, and I don’t know if it will ever happen again (because, self employment, cost of living etc etc etc…). Rather than talk about the holiday, I wanted to share some reflections I had during that time. 

Throughout the 4 weeks, I had an uncomfortable voice in my head (from my very active neurodivergent brain that never stops), saying: ‘do something creative, productive, don’t waste this time!’, and: ‘why do I get to do this, and not others? Why do I get that choice?’ I thought back to my childhood and then remembered why I made the sacrifices I did to have those 4 weeks off. Rest is well and truly radical because of the space it creates, and how you are forced to come away from ‘production’. 

I grew up on a very working class council estate in Scarborough. My mum juggled two jobs, working in a factory through the night, coming home at 6am to get us ready for school / do the school run, to then go clean caravans at 9am. Her body was used for productivity to make others richer and keep food on the table, her mind used to juggle a household, 3 kids and turbulent relationships. She was a hero, but not out of choice. The opposite. She had no time, little money and absolutely no privilege to even think about for rest for herself. I don’t even know if she knew what rest means, I don’t know if she does now. She sacrificed everything. And at 66, she was diagnosed with early onset dementia. I well and truly, absolutely blame the system for that. Maybe I will share my thoughts, anger and resentment on that one day. 

Growing up where I did, I had no visible aspirations, or even awareness of the creative industry. I didn’t do well at school, and from 16 worked in manual and low paid admin jobs until 24. Factories, bar work, retail. My friends, neurodivergence and queerness saved me (not that I knew at the time). Each led me to a different community and I saw you could have a different life. 

Jumping ahead to now (aged 37), after finishing uni at 26 (yes I found out I could actually do this, so I did, with no A-Levels/poor GCSE’s but finding ‘creative’ ways around the system…), moving to a city, working in industry and running Sail for 8 years, I am having big realisations of my past (and still present) systemic barriers, and a working class demographic of being ‘stuck on a treadmill’ with no time or money to breathe let alone have the energy to see the issues. Productivity, making the rich richer, oppression, control. Austerity. Lack of time to be angry at the systems controlled by the few. And we all know austerity then breeds issues in society. Unfortunately we often turn against each other rather than blame a very broken system.

Basically, what I’m saying is, time is a huge privilege. One that shouldn’t only be accessed only by a minority. Without time, you can’t have rest. Without rest, you can’t find energy. Without energy you can’t make changes. And rest shouldn’t only be when we are ‘on holiday’ (remember, we had to fight to have those, too. Only back in 1938 was the Holidays with Pay Act brought in). And when you do start to try and rest, you realise that it’s actually really hard because we are all so conditioned to be productive.

That is why I had a month off, to screw the system, the path I was given, and for my mum. And to say ‘I can, and I will’. I am aware not everybody can just take time off in chunks, but what we can do is we can all look at rest differently. I really recommend reading ‘Rest is Resistance’ by Tricia Hersey, who has made me see rest completely differently. It can be embraced in small micro chunks of 5 minutes everyday, here and there. From active rest, inactive rest, small moments, even just daydreaming. It shouldn’t just be ‘celebrated’ and ‘pressured’ by ‘paid holidays’ – it should be the norm. Rest is radical. It can bring time and space, to just be. Embrace that, however you can, and in whatever way rest looks like for you. Find one moment today to take 5 minutes.

Would love to hear anyone else thoughts on rest as I’m learning to do it more (it’s hard!). Please do feel free to reach out mandy@sailcreative.co.uk. 

#Rest #Resistance #Norway #Travel #Business