This FEELed note was prepared by FEELed Lab Administrator Dani Pierson.
On Friday, May 13, I hosted Fringe Natures #11: Resting Together at the FEELed Lab. This workshop was a gentle introduction to and active experience of my master’s research that is attempting to articulate a Metis-feminist theory of rest as resistance. My research topic often feels antithetical to the pace of academia which asks for constant production and very clearly places value on outputs. I appreciate opportunities to lead interventions into this problem of pace to attempt to create or reconfigure communities where our value as beings does not come from our productivity.
On a Friday afternoon, we spent thirty quiet minutes resting in the FEELed yard under the warm sun and bright green leaves. With a gentle invitation to daydream, we listened to the sounds of Woodhaven – a rushing creek, squirrel squeaks, and bird chirps – and drifted into rest. For some, this meant a midafternoon nap laying on the grass, while others spent this time watching clouds drift by and leaves rustle above. Afterward, we reconvened to reflect on our experiences of resting together and discuss the emerging theories of restful resistance.
A few days before hosting this workshop, horrific wildfires ignited in my Metis homelands and a significant portion of Treaty 8 Territory in Northern BC and AB. These fires were on my mind as I led this workshop. A week later, I was driving through Treaty 8 Territory to return home for a family emergency and saw the Lands that I love burnt black and smoldering from the barely extinguished fires. It felt so heavy in my heart. While the FEELed Lab does its best to find creative and joyful ways to ponder questions of environmental harm and climate change, sometimes we are faced with the devastating
realities of it.
Fires can be relentless in their fast pace. So, perhaps, one action to take is to slow down.
My desire to rest is deeply connected to my desire to build my relationship with the Lands I call home (Treaty 8) and those to which I am a visitor to (Syilx Territory). It is only through slowness and resting that I can even slightly begin to understand the intricacies and intimacies of the Land.
This is where I invite you to consider the pace of your relationship to Land. Do you visit with the trails you hike on? Do you stop to talk to the trees you pass on your way? Have you told the leaves you love
them? Do you listen to what they are trying to say? Instead of consuming the land in metrics of minutes and metres, have you ever slowed down with the Land?
I wish you a slow summer (perhaps one with a visit to Snecwips Museum to learn more about these Lands we live on).
The FEELed lab 