I’ve always been bad at resting.
Like my dad, I prefer a vacation that involves lots of activities and sightseeing over parking myself in a beach chair all week. I can maybe do one or two beach days, for a couple hours at a time, before I get antsy.
As an adult, it isn’t that I never sit on the couch scrolling on my phone. It’s just what I do when I’ve been going, going, going and my brain burns itself out. I always think, “Isn’t there a way I can make this resting more productive?”
Growing up Catholic, I heard a lot about the Third Commandment: Keep the sabbath day holy. But I just assumed that meant I had to squeeze in a Mass on top of everything else I had to do on Sundays—mostly homework. Even once I was out of school, Sunday became my “reset day” before a busy week—the day for laundry and grocery shopping and cleaning. The way our modern industrial workplace is set up, there’s no way I could do these things during the week. Sundays became the day that I knew my social calendar was less likely to be filled, so I could finally clean the bathroom undisturbed.
Taking a Sabbath
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve been listening to the Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz this year and have been really enjoying it. Earlier this year, I was convicted through this podcast to start taking rest on Sundays more seriously. As Fr. Mike explains, sabbath comes from the word shabbos, meaning both “Saturday” and “covenant” (In most Christian denominations, the day of the Lord has been moved to Sunday in honor of the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead.) Therefore, the Sabbath is not just a goof-off day; it’s a sign of the covenant between God and His people. In an episode I listened to this week, Fr. Mike said that resting on the Sabbath is a sign that we are no longer slaves, but free in Christ. We are no longer slaves to hustle culture or social obligations or everything we “should” be doing; we are free to rest. We are allowed to rest.
Resting during the week
OK, that’s great for Sundays, Vicky, but what about the rest of the week? I have a job that I have to work on Sundays. I have children. I’m a caretaker. I can’t just do nothing.
I hear you, and as I’ve said before, I’m a DINKY, so parents are free to disregard anything I say. But as a lot of secular psychologists, doctors, and ✨ wellness babes ✨ have said in recent years, if you don’t make time for rest when you’re healthy, you will be forced to make time for rest due to illness or injury.
I was reminded again of that fact this week by my sweet husband. After a spontaneous Wednesday night stroll through Piedmont Park, he came to me on Thursday morning with a proposition to go again after work “because you haven’t seen the whole park yet.” I thought he was nuts. Didn’t he see how long my to-do list was? Didn’t he know I hadn’t lifted weights in weeks? I was falling SO FAR BEHIND in being my best productive boss babe self!!! He just said, “I think it would be good for you.” I relented.
As soon as we were both done with our workdays, we took the MARTA train to the park. And he was right. It was restful: being surrounded by trees, watching all the people and dogs pass by, gently moving my body, and ending the evening with drinks at the Park Tavern, watching the sunset, and having deep conversations. I came home that night feeling truly refreshed and ready to tackle my jam-packed Friday.
In case you need someone to tell you: You deserve to rest this weekend.
Off My Bookshelf
This one’s pretty straightforward: I give my initial thoughts on a book I just finished. Also, there may be spoilers. Sorry.
A Perfect Vintage by Chelsea Fagan: This book had all the trappings to make me like it: set in France, written by an author whose nonfiction work I’ve read for years (this is her first fiction book), full of familiar idiosyncrasies of Franco-American relations that remind me of my time living there in my early 20s.
And I did like it…when it was focused on something other than the main romance.
The emotional subplots in this book are what makes it compelling: main character Lea wrestling with the fear of how her growing attraction to the younger man her best friend’s daughter has a crush on will ruin their relationship; her best friend Stephanie finding love again after leaving a toxic marriage and wondering why her new boyfriend’s daughter hates her; said boyfriend’s daughter grieving both her mother’s death and an on-again-off-again relationship; the boyfriend’s eldest son treating Lea like garbage and undermining her authority as the developer of his family property at every turn. Call me a prude, but I was just waiting for the steamy scenes to be over so we could get back to the plot.
I was truly begging for something, anything, that would make romantic male lead Théo less perfect. I’ve met 24-year-old American dudes, and I’ve met 24-year-old French dudes; they don’t act like that. But I guess that’s not the point of modern romance books.
Overall, did I enjoy the book for what it was? Sure. Is it going to make me a romance girlie? No. If you are a hardcore romance lover, you will probably like this book much better than I did.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3 stars
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ATL Spotlight of the Week
Of all the coffee shops I’ve tried so far in Atlanta, Summit Coffee is my favorite. I’ve stopped here often for a post-Pilates pick-me-up. I love their rotating seasonal menu (the lavender and hot honey iced latte they have now is fire), the quiet atmosphere that make it an ideal WFH spot, and the always friendly staff behind the counter. I am so stoked to try their fall lattes when that menu comes out!
Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what other topics you’d like to see from me, and I will see you next time.
