Earthly Reads: Tricia Hersey on We Will Rest! /S1:2
A large boulder rests in a grassy meadow. Photo by César.
Continuing the first season of our Earthly Reads series, we are thrilled to bring you a new conversation with our beloved guest Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry.
Sharing sweet balm from her new book “WE WILL REST! The Art of Escape,” Tricia reminds us of the art of being alive. In this meditative episode, Tricia asks listeners what it might mean to have faith in mystery and to begin without knowing the full course. She goes on to share her wisdom on what it means to try without the fear of being wrong.
WE WILL REST! The Art of Escape” is both a book and a sacred object that offers serene moments of reflection and powerful, decisive calls to action, just as she does in this episode. Inspired by Tricia’s words, we “thank you for living” and for listening along with us.
To access the full episode (65min.) join us on Patreon or the Earthly Reads Book Study.
“ The first step for morphing into an escape artist is belief. You must believe you have the power to refuse. You must believe you have been gifted with everything necessary. You must be a trickster. No matter what, you must not show fear.”
Tricia Hersey
Tricia Hersey is a multidisciplinary artist, theologian, escape artist and founder of The Nap Ministry. She is the global pioneer and originator of the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks, and collaborates with communities all over the world to create sacred spaces where the liberatory, restorative, and disruptive power of rest can take hold. Tricia’s work is seeded within the soils of Black radical thought, somatics, Afrofuturism, womanism, and liberation theology. She is a Chicago native who believes in daydreaming, porch sitting, and poetry.
We Will Rest! The Art of Escape
We don't believe we are worthy of rest unless we burn ourselves out to accomplish it. Our thinking has been limited by disconnection, sleep deprivation, and the unattainable call for perfection. The systems will never give us rest. It is something we must create for ourselves and each other.
Just as the North Star guided the enslaved on their journeys to freedom, visionary artist and founder of The Nap Ministry Tricia Hersey leads us to imagine a new world: one in which we subvert the narrative of productivity at all costs and embrace rest as a healing spiritual practice.
We Will Rest! is a modern sacred object, medicine for a sick and exhausted world. Weaving together meditations and poetry with storytelling and art, Hersey provokes liberation through refusal and trickster rebellion in the face of capitalism and white supremacy.
There is another way. Focus on the escape. Focus on the transformation. We can just be. We are beautiful. We are enough. We are escape artists. We Will Rest!
When purchasing from this link, a small portion of each sale goes toward For The Wild Slow Media projects.
Tricia Hersey on We Will Rest!; Earthly Reads I, For The Wild 2025; Clips from Cycles (1989) by dir. Zeinabu Irene Davis; Music “Song for My Father” by Aisha Mars courtesy Leaving Records.
♫ The music featured in this series is from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records. Compilation proceeds are directed back into the community of artists and families impacted by the fires. Learn more at staying.bandcamp.com. The tracks featured in this episode are “Rest Here (demo)” by Nailah Hunter, “Song For My Father” by Aisha Mars, and “Charlene’s Mantra” by V.C.R.
Earthly Reads
Book Study
6 live, online salons with authors adrienne maree brown, Prentis Hemphill, Tricia Hersey, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Céline Semaan, and Marcia Bjornerud and host Ayana Young discussing their new books. Featuring live music (courtesy of Living Earth), embodiment practices, and Q&A with the Authors
For The Wild Study Notes for each book
Music playlists to study and move to
Access to the extended versions of the Authors’ new podcast episodes
A Practice & Resource Guide to take your studies further
Community Discussion group
More!
Earthly Reads Episode Series
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