20 Comments
Jan 11Liked by Jodie Melissa Rogers

Wow, like Jocelyn says in her comment, this has come at just the right time for me, too! This really resonated with me and I really enjoyed that little pause for breath tucked in the middle of this post 💛. I've been faced with depression and burnout for the first time ever, and it's completely forced me to slow down. And I'm so happy it has. Within it, I've found a need to go back to basics to truly understand myself. Thanks for a lovely, relatable piece ✨

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I loved the pause for breath too! Such a lovely little moment 🥰

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Ahh thank you Hannah, I haven’t included one before but it felt like it was needed - so I’m glad you enjoyed it ❤️

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This was such a timely ready. It resonates with me especially right now because I was laid off at the end of the year so I’m in a transitional period and I’m so conditioned to be so busy and never rest that I still feel like I have “no time for xyz”. I’m still making myself busy all day working on my own art/writing but it feels like maybe rest (and generally taking better care of myself) is a lesson I’m supposed to learn during this time period. Thanks for sharing!

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I found this when I went self employed, I’d been so used to rushing it was a real active effort to slow down!

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Jan 11Liked by Jodie Melissa Rogers

Thank you for this very poignant and needed reflection piece. I’ve just returned from 2.5months signed off work for a personal life event that saw me use work as a distraction, intensifying an already unhealthy relationship I had with work! Inevitably it all caught up with me and I couldn’t continue. But even at this point, with my body emotionally and physically exhausted I struggled to stop, to just rest. Reading ‘wintering’ was a key turning moment and I am by no means a rest pro now but I have a fresh perspective on what is important and what ‘success’ and ‘achievements’ in the day looks like- prioritising me, rest time! Thank you for your honest, vulnerable post, it is a conversation that is so needed.

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I really enjoyed wintering too, it introduced me to living more seasonally and I find sooo much comfort in it

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Jan 12Liked by Jodie Melissa Rogers

rest weekends are so important and necessary, it really does feel harder to rest sometimes than to keep busy so i’m really hoping to prioritise it more this year - thanks for this 💛

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Jan 12Liked by Jodie Melissa Rogers

An important article highlighting the downside of hustle culture. For me, rest is taking time alone without the input from other minds. Thanks for sharing Jodie.

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Love this thanks for sharing Jodie! I recently went self employed and agree it does come with an opportunity to slow down but there is so much unlearning you have to do to stop yourself just working all the hours again!

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The unlearning is hugeeee isn’t it!? I thought I’d instantly slow down given I’d be on my own time but it definitely didn’t happen like that

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Needed to hear *all* of this today, Jodie. As a millennial who came of age and entered the workforce at a time when hustle culture was all-too glorified, slowing down feels incredibly uncomfortable – dangerous even, as you mentioned. I just recently decided to put my business on hold for the next year to focus on raising my daughter, and as joyful as I am about that decision, there is also a lot of guilt around not being "productive" in the same way that I've always known. I think we learn so much about ourselves in the slowing down and in the stillness, though, so thank you for these reminders 🤍

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I feel like a lot of millennials are having a moment of reflection recently... Perhaps it’s just my online echo chamber, but it seems that a lot of us are taking a step back and rethinking the way that we were brought up to do things like work and productivity 🥰

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Beautiful. Over the past few years I've prioritized rest in a lot of ways. The simple act of reading a book even though it's not "leisure time" has been a significant change. As a writer, reading both relaxes me and allows me to hone my craft.

I, too, work for myself. In the early days of this experience, I would spend all day at the computer as though I had a boss who would come in and berate me if I wasn't on task. Now, sitting at a desk without actively and intentionally working on a specific thing brings a mess of anxiety. If I'm not working, why bother being in the place you work?

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Such a lot is wrong with our culture and we have to be the ones to change it. Thank you for this.

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Thank you Jodie for this. Like others have commented it’s come into my inbox at the right moment. And also loved the permission to stop and breath, lowering my shoulders. (My body always thanks me afterwards)

I will be leaving my job of 10 years at the end of Jan and moving to self employment, I’m finding the list (and time) to be ‘doing’ for my new career keeps growing. I can see the fear of no regular income driving a lot of this, so It’s a daily reminder for me at the moment to write these ideas down and review them later and not to rush into all these new activities. I love the idea of booking in rest to ensure it happens, thank you for that suggestion 😊

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Love this, particularly the part about how the "norm" isn't prioritising rest - highlights the importance of going against the grain.

ps also love the hot water bottle! x

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Thank you for this. I am addicted to being productive every second of the day (and struggling with it for 10+ years) and your insight is inspiring. Also, I feel like the need to be busy all the time is a mental escape route, something I've been discovering now that I've gotten myself out of a toxic situation.

Saving your thoughts for future rereading.

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Oh yes, a thousand times YES ... this resonated so much with me that I’m sure you must live in my brain and home !!

I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that I must slow down and show myself the same compassion, care & love I show others . Reading Rushing Woman’s Syndrome by Dr Libby Weaver offers lightbulb moments too and motivates too but can’t wait to check your book suggestion too .

Thank you so much for writing this 🙏

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Thank you for this lovely reminder to slow down and rest. It brought back a memory of what a great yoga teacher once told me, 'we are human beings, not human doings' - the emphasis on just 'being'. It was my favourite class of the week!

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