FROM THE EDITOR

Molly Backes, Communications Coordinator

our “productivity,” whether it involves more visible labor (a job, a boss, a paycheck) or invisible labor (caring for children and elders, cooking and cleaning and remembering everything from how many eggs are in the fridge to when the kids need vaccinations) or even chosen projects like hobbies and sports teams and art? Somehow we let ourselves believe that if we don’t fill up as many minutes of the day as possible with something “productive,” then we hardly deserve to take up space on the planet, much less take a vacation!

So how do we get out of it? How do we begin to believe that we are, in fact, inherently worthy?

First of all, we must recognize the source of the message that our worth is tied to our productivity. It comes from capitalism—a capitalism rooted in hundreds of years of Protestant and Calvinist ethos, from John Smith telling starving colonists, “He that will not work, shall not eat.” But that’s not us! We’re UUs; we believe that everyone should be fed, even if they didn’t bring a dish to share at the potluck.

And once we recognize that the voices telling us we’re not worthy are capitalist hogwash, we must RESIST! Resist by resting! Resist by going on vacation with your dearest friend! Resist by being gentle and kind to yourself no matter how many items on your to-do list remain undone. Resist by spending a whole afternoon swinging in the hammock, listening to the birds, watching the clouds go by. You deserve it—not because you work so hard, not because you’re so virtuous, but because you are a human being on this Earth, and for that reason, you have inherent worth. We all do. ◊