Rest Is Not a Luxury.

Enjoying the most precious part of living; riding my mustang in the mountains of Idaho.

Rest is not a luxury. Rest is a survival skill.

I wish we had words for the way that horses can make us feel whole. But if you’ve ever had the pleasure of connecting with a horse, or can escape for a long trail ride, you know that the feeling stretches beyond rhyme, reason, spirit, or soul. It’s unique.

I’ve been reading the very lovely book “Ordinary Joy” by Kim Joy who dedicated a section to discussing the importance of rest; not as a “reward” to completing arbitrary goals or task, but as a survival skill.

My n’ my horses Sunny and Chaps on a Idaho winter morning.

From a professional standpoint, I know this (In another life I actually taught a university level class on sleep’s impact on health). But the read had me considering rest outside of just sleep. Rest that fills you. Rest that recharges you. Rest that makes “the rest of it all” all worth it.

For me, that rest comes from horses. From squeaky saddles on mountain trails. From nature and sunshine, hours spent removing myself from any other concern.

Horses go beyond a hobby or a luxury. It’s rest. It’s surviving.