When work ends and a break begins, there is a period in between that is painful and difficult. There is the guilt of not working; there is the fear that there is a task left unfinished. There is the sense that one needs to be moving, because one was already moving before.
Days pass, while you force yourself to relax. It’s an unpleasant time. Relaxation becomes work.
Then comes the crash. All desire to be out, to be doing things, to check items off a list, falls away. There is only exhaustion and the desire to be immobile.
It is usually at this time that breaks or vacations in the United States come to a halt. Our breaks are culturally too short. It’s part of the ethos here that inactivity is laziness, a kind of character flaw.
Nothing could, of course, be farther from the truth. The mind needs time, space, distance, and rest to function. The need for sleep alone tells us this. Experience also tells us this. I am reminded of the many examples of distracted minds that, historically, had major breakthroughs.
In this season of reflection, let us celebrate recuperation and relaxation as well. An idle mind is a terrible waste, but a wasted mind might as well be idle.
