For the past year, we’ve somehow managed to stave off the virus trail that follows every new toddler in daycare, but it finally caught up to us and the nagging cough held on tight - clear the calendar and settle into the couch were now the weekend plans. My last stay-in-jammies situation was summer 2022, the first trimester of my pregnancy, so I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the time ahead. As an extrovert, it’s easy to pencil in the dinners, gatherings, and playdates, but this weekend was a reminder that unplugging, showing up in our completely non-performative selves, is not the same as using your battery for non-work-related matters. There is an active rest in choosing undone.
Without the undercurrent of a to-do list obstructing my view, I pause to observe my daughter reading her book, legs weaved into mine, and relish in knowing that at 8, she finds this to be the best kind of weekend, being together. Look, Mommy, look - my little one insisting that I watch her assemble the puzzle she’s learned how to do for the first time. Yes, I see you! isn’t a mindless response in between the onions being thrown into the pot and laundry folded. This kind of rest stirs up joy in simplicity, the moments that often slip by as the in-between, but actually make up the sum of our lives. How refreshing to receive the gift of simplicity, that in her subtlety, she can reframe the surrounding chaos, immediately making clear what’s necessary and what’s excess. All, which I rediscovered this weekend, comes when we pursue some time on the couch.
To active rest,
Pat
