Rest Starts with Space

I know I’ve written about this, but here I am again because it seems that I learn many life lessons over and over again.

It was an unpredictable weather day today in Ohio, and I decided to clean out and seasonally correct my closet. A task that I almost instantly regret about an hour into the process because it’s quite the event. Nonetheless, as I pulled items out of my closet and made decisions about what to donate and what to keep, I found myself perplexed by…well…myself and my choices, ha. Why did I keep this shirt? Why did I buy that jacket? How terrible that I don’t even like this skirt with the tag on it and never returned it. It’s a humbling experience.

As I pulled items out of my summer clothes bins, I had a similar reaction. I also took joy in items that I had forgotten about. What is old is new again. There were items which looked very similar to items I had recently browsed online. Shew! I felt relieved by my self-restraint.

As I stepped back with satisfaction, looking at the new found space in my closet and at clothes that are suitable for summer temperatures, it dawned on me that this a part of it. This is a part of what summer is supposed to bring.

Space. Space to think or think less. Space from the work. Space from the people we work with – no matter how much we enjoy them. Space.

And yet, there is this period of time at the start of summer where we feel lost in this space. Some of us may have less space than others, but there is still space there, and there is this almost instinctual desire to fill that space with more stuff. More meetings, catching up with people we haven’t seen in a while, more learning and reading, maybe even more shopping. Gulp.

But if we continue to do more and more, there is less space. Emotional space. Space for mental clarity. Space for joy. Space to reflect not just on what we want to achieve but space for how far we’ve come.

In Legacy of Learning, I mention this formula from Brad Stulberg, “Stress + rest = growth.”

Before you make that purchase, add that calendar event, fill your time with that special project, give yourself a little space. If you are someone like me who feels a compulsive need to constantly be in motion, then move but move for you. Take a walk. Clean out a cabinet. Organize your desk.

But don’t miss an opportunity to grow. Rest is part of the work. And often rest starts with space.