Take a break!
Today we are announcing that we will be taking a brief break from our work — including our blog — for the month of July. We believe that rest is paramount to work-life balance. As activists and scholars like Tricia Hersey aka “The Nap Bishop” say, rest is revolutionary in a capitalist society which values productivity and profit over people and humanity. By choosing to rest and slow down, we actively resist the demands of a toxic social framework that disregards wellness.
There are different kinds of rest and self care that people can practice, and we are going to cover a few that we are going to focus on during our break. Physical self care includes anything related to your body. Taking good care of our bodies can include getting regular and restful sleep, eating well, drinking water, and joyful movement or activity. It is also highly beneficial to have support from wellness providers to support our bodies, such as massage therapists, family doctors, and others like nutritionists or acupuncturists. Seems like a no-brainer, but when was the last time you went in for a check up or saw your dentist?
This form of care can also have huge impacts on your psychological wellness, which also benefits from connecting with oneself through activities like journalling, meditation, or even going to therapy. A huge part of taking a rest from work also includes regularly scheduling time away from work, like keeping specific work hours, disabling work-related notifications like email when you are no longer at work (or fulfilling hours as you work from home!) — and not checking for messages when work time is over. Setting boundaries with colleagues about when you will be on a break or vacation is also key to creating a workplace that demonstrates a commitment to rest.
Reading can be a relaxing activity, and here at MT Consulting, we will be taking this break time to dive into some of our reading lists! While theory and workplace-related readings can be more of a chore to get through, there is plenty of fiction that can help increase your empathy and understanding of others’ experiences. Some of our recommendations are:
- The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
- 5 Little Indians by Michelle Good
- Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
- Milk, Blood, Heat: Stories by Dantiel W Moniz
- The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
- Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
- Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman
If you are in Edmonton, we recommend checking out these and other books from the Edmonton Public Library, or supporting local book shops like Audrey’s Books, Glass Bookshop, or the Wee Book Inn used books!
How will you be taking a break? We would love to hear from you if you pick up any of our recommended reads. If you hope to engage with more EDI learning later in the year, explore our course and certification offerings here.
See you in a month!