Moving from Chaos to Clarity
Restoration, Not Escape | 3-2-1
The View from Here
After spending June thinking about how much of my identity and self worth is contingent on being productive, I pivoted this month to thinking about rest. On the surface, rest sounds like the opposite of productivity. The more I sat with the word, I came to realize I was using it too loosely. For July, I explored my relationship with rest and restoration and, more specifically, the difference between them.
Rest is an activity that stops the drain on our physical or mental resources. Think sleep when you’re tired, stepping away from a stressful encounter, or having a quiet evening at home. Restoration rebuilds vitality over time. Rest is for acute preservation for our current self, restoration sustains long-term flourishing for our future self. Both are essential maintenance for our body and brain.
Some of the things I do to ‘rest’ don’t truly address what is draining me or function to rebuild me in any way. They numb or distract instead. Comfort-eating and doom-scrolling are examples in my life. Today was stressful - I deserve some Culver’s. I’ve been working so hard, I’m just going to shut off my brain and scroll for 30 minutes. These feel like they should provide rest. But once completed, there is no actual ‘mental calm’ to be found. The Culver’s is delicious, of course, and the sugar provides a temporary boost, but it ultimately does nothing to restore my depletion or rebuild me in any way. My brain isn’t quieted from the scrolling. Neither provides rest or restoration.
Sailing on Lake Michigan
Photo Credit: Lee Ann Lau
A few summers ago, I learned to sail on Lake Michigan. What I have found is that sailing is an intensely restorative experience for me. I am still very much a beginner and am only rated to sail with very light winds. The challenge of paying attention to the wind and managing the boat quietly focuses my brain, subduing the noise of normal stress. I’ve come to see that other activities which focus my brain without creating excessive cognitive load are equally restorative for my brain: reading fiction, completing routine chores, listening to music. They do not just give me a break from the noise. They help me hear myself again.
So this is the question I am carrying into the end of summer: “When I say I need rest, what am I actually asking for? Relief? Distraction? Restoration?” This month’s article, “Rest Is Not Numbing”, explores the other domains where that distinction matters and offers a way to name the kind of care we truly need.
LINK TO ARTICLE https://www.claritaslife.com/resources/the-compass/rest-is-not-numbing
3 | Your Turn
When you say you need rest, what are you actually asking for: relief, distraction, or restoration?
What helps you hear yourself again, instead of simply shutting the noise off for a while?
What care do you resist because it doesn't look productive, impressive, or easy to justify?
2 | Worth Your Time
Book:
Rest by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Pang makes the case that rest is not the opposite of meaningful work; it is one of the conditions that makes sustained, creative, high-quality work possible.
Article:
Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime
by Ferris Jabr, Scientific American
Mental downtime restores attention, consolidates memory, and makes room for creative thought.
1 | The Lab
When ‘I need rest’ could mean several different things, the Restoration Check helps you pause and name what is actually depleted. In two minutes, you can distinguish between relief, distraction, and restoration, then choose the kind of care that fits the moment.
The Tool: Restoration Check
Where Clarity Meets Connection
Where are you currently numbing instead of resting or restoring?
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