The Justice Walk Travelog - January Jaunts 2024

Leadership support rooted in equity and justice

This month's walking...I'm pretty good at resting. I can say that because I used to be very, very bad at resting.It took a lot of time and effort to get to improve. (Yup, I had to work hard at resting!) I still have a lot of additional room for improvement.I appreciate this list, based on Saundra Dalton-Smith's work, of all of the different kinds of rest that we need.It can be easy to think as rest as one-dimensional - sleep. Recognizing all of the different types of rest helps me to better label my actions and be more intentional about them. I hope it also helps me stop judging myself when my body/mind is telling me that something I have been trained to see as "frivolous" or "unimportant" is actually critical to my holistic well-being.That said, some of the things described as activities that fall under different kinds of rest here don't resonate with me. For me, social rest does not mean being with people. In face, socializing with people causes me to need rest!How about you - what types and ways of resting on this list resonate for you? Is anything missing?(In case your eyes don't love the drawn font, a typed version is below)Seven Types of RestPhysical - Passive physical rest includes sleeping. Active physical rest includes stretching or yoga.Mental - Schedule short breaks throughout your work day. Keep a notepad to jod down any nagging thoughts that keep you awakeSensory - Simply try to close your eyes for a few minutes in the middle of the dayCreative - Allowing yourself to take in the beauty of the outdoors - even if it's at a local park or in your backyard - provides you with creative restEmotional - Emotional rest requires the courage to be authentic. Have time and space to freely express your feelings and cut back on people pleasingSocial - To explore more social rest, surround yourself with positive and supportive peopleSpiritual - Engage in something greater than yourself and add prayer, meditation or community involvement to your daily routine.

A brag to start the year.In 2023, I leaned into professional development.

A lot of it was self-directed.

In fact, whether you know it or not, many of you were involved. Some of you create content that has caused me to ponder, dig deeper, and grow. Some of you have engaged directly in conversation and community with me.Either way, Thank you!

Other learning has been directed by others. Specifically, the coaching certification I achieved through Pamela Larde, Ph.D. and her Academy of Creative Coaching team.

So much of the learning I'm doing now, in striving-for-liberation spaces, is measured in trust, in relationship, in the feeling in the space. That is valid and real and true.

I will confess that the part of me that is still a recovering overachieving, perfectionist, Type-A, people-pleaser likes a certificate sometimes too! 😅

Think about your formal and informal training to be a leader. Did it include using any of the above phrases on a regular basis?Or did it teach you that these phrases made you a bad leader, made you weak?I was certainly taught that saying these things was a sign of weakness.Unlearning that lesson was HARD.Asking for help, saying I don't know, acknowledging and apologizing for mistakes transformed how I think about leadership, how I try to lead myself, and, most importantly, my relationships.There's privilege involved in who gets to use these phrases. As a woman in the professional world who looked about 15-years-old until I was in my late 30s, I often had to project a sense of knowing confidence I didn't feel in order to be seen as credible.How can those of us with identities and positions that give us power and privilege model using these phrases? How can we create cultures that allow every individual the ability to say, "I don't know" without negative ramifications?I'd love your thoughts!

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