What if rest wasn’t something you had to earn?
Join me for a conversation about productivity, exhaustion, and what can change when we stop measuring our worth by how much we get done.
We’ve been taught to keep going.
This book asks us to question why.
For our next Wild New Way Book Club, we’ll be reading Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey.
Hersey challenges the idea that our value comes from being productive, available, and constantly doing. She asks us to look more closely at grind culture and the systems that have taught us to treat exhaustion as normal and rest as something we have to deserve.
But this isn’t simply a book about getting more sleep or taking time off.
Hersey presents rest as something deeper. It can be a way of reclaiming our time, our bodies, our imagination, and our right to exist without always producing something in return.
Our conversation will give us space to think about where these messages show up in our own lives and what it might mean to relate to rest differently.
Come curious. You don’t need to agree with everything in the book.
This is a discussion, not a class. We’ll talk about the ideas that stood out, the ones that challenged us, and the questions the book brought up.
You’re welcome whether you read every page, made it halfway through, or are simply interested in the conversation.
There is no pressure to have the “right” interpretation.
If you're local, You can get 15% off Rest Is Resistance at Maria’s Bookstore when you mention the Wild New Way Book Club or you can easily order your copy on Amazon here.
You may find yourself in this conversation if…
What happens when we stop treating exhaustion as normal?
When did being busy become something we are proud of?
Why can doing nothing feel uncomfortable or even irresponsible?
Where do we connect productivity with worth, success, or being a “good” person?
What does Hersey mean when she describes rest as resistance?
What might become possible when there is more room for stillness, dreaming, and imagination?
How might our relationships with work, responsibility, and ourselves change if rest did not have to be earned?
What You Can Expect:
A thoughtful conversation about the book’s central ideas.
We’ll explore what stood out, what challenged us, and what the book made us reconsider.
Space to look at your own relationship with productivity and rest.
You may notice where pressure to keep doing has become so familiar that you rarely question it.
Different perspectives around the table.
You don’t need to agree with every idea in the book or with everyone in the room. Curiosity matters more than having the same interpretation.
A relaxed, welcoming discussion.
Come ready to participate as much or as little as you’d like. You are welcome even if you haven’t finished the book.
Rest can be surprisingly difficult.
We live in a culture that rewards doing more, moving faster, staying available, and pushing through exhaustion.
Even when we finally have a chance to stop, it can be difficult to actually let ourselves rest without thinking about what still needs to be done.
Rest Is Resistance invites us to question those habits and the larger culture that shaped them.
Not so we can become better at resting in order to be more productive afterward, but so we can consider what our lives might look like when productivity is no longer the measure of our value.
That last distinction is important for this book.
Topics We'll explore:
1. The pressure to always be productive.
Where our ideas about work, achievement, and worth come from, and why it can be so difficult to step outside them.
2. Why rest can bring up discomfort.
What happens when we slow down and are no longer distracted by constant activity.
3. Rest as resistance.
What Hersey means when she asks us to see rest as something larger than personal wellness.
4. Reclaiming time and attention.
How constant demands on our time can pull us away from our bodies, creativity, relationships, and inner lives.
5. Dreaming and imagination.
Why having space to imagine, wander, and simply be can matter in a culture focused on output.
You do not need to finish the book to join us. Whether you’ve read every page or started a few chapters, you are welcome to be part of the conversation.
Event
Details
In-Person Book Club
Date: Monday, November 30, 2026
Time: 5PM - 7:00 PM MST
Location: Four Leaves Winery, 528 Main Ave, Durango
Come at 5:00 PM to settle in, find your seat, and connect with others before we begin. We’ll start the group conversation at 5:30 PM and wrap up by 7:00 PM.
The Wild New Way Book Club is FREE to attend, but registration is required.
Come talk about what it means to rest in a world that keeps asking us to do more.
You don’t need to arrive with notes, answers, or a perfectly formed opinion about the book.
Come for a thoughtful conversation, bring whatever stood out to you, and leave room to hear how other people experienced the book too.
Haven’t finished reading? You’re still welcome.
FREE to attend. Registration is required.