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I came across the Nap Ministry via a podcast. I really believe in their ethos of “ rest as a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.” It’s recontextualising rest for me slowly. Another quote that sums it up perfectly - “ how will you be useless to capitalism today?” - Brontë Velez . really makes me think about how I want to live my life.
Oct 2, 2024
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the founder of the Nap Ministry deconstructs the sickness of grind culture, which traces back to slavery where people were pushed to their limits and treated as machines. she declares rest a human right, a biological necessity, a portal of imagination and a powerful form of resistance. no book has been more formative for me.
Jun 11, 2024
hear me out—this one might feel impossible, but i quit purchasing items on Amazon in 2018 and cancelled my GoodReads account shortly after.
i did some serious reflection and realized i’d become super reliant upon, and frankly, quite used to the instant gratification of purchasing something and knowing i’d have it within a day. that’s not normal. the labor practices, economics, and environmental impacts of getting what you want from the internet delivered quickly and right to your door are skewed. i was filling a void in myself with mindless purchases.
i’m aware that they service a huge swath of the internet (Amazon Web Services), own Whole Foods and Abe Books, and will likely take over more businesses we like and rely on. weaning off and avoiding entirely is very very hard, but it can also be a measured decision. that said, i know that it is a privilege to abstain from Amazon. i am able bodied, i don’t have kids, i have access to a car, i live in an urban environment with access to a lot of stuff at my fingertips. but making the choice to break out of the Amazon loop has ultimately been better for my pocketbook and better for my relationship to these mega-tech-companies that have their fingers in everything.
in contrast, i’m becoming more interested in alternate economies, like bartering and sharing. i love the idea of having commonly shared tools and items (tool libraries are very cool). we don’t need to own it all, we have each other.
interested in exploring more? the zine pictured below is a great start, and summarizes a much larger book by the same author on how to resist the leviathan that is Amazon.
Jan 22, 2025
this book reads like Nick and Carla having conversations with different people over what joy looks like in resistance which ended up being really inspiring.
my favorite bit from the book was them comparing how no one shits on toddlers when they're learning how to walk, you're just excited they took the first step. and the same feeling should be shared when someone joins a mutual aid org for the first time.
Jan 15, 2025
Top Recs from @nilufer-yanya
I’ve been going for morning walks when possible in this overgrown cemetery close to me. It’s very peaceful and I can hear birds chirping.. It feels like a very necessary city detox. If I’m feeling stressed or anxious being amongst all the gravestones helps put things in perspective!
Oct 2, 2024
Just like a small little set. Gouache is good because it dries really fast and you don’t need much water. If i have space for a laptop i have space for paints.Feel so much happier when i look back through my notebook and there's colours instead of weird sentences :)
Oct 2, 2024
Oct 2, 2024