Unlit candle from rawpixel.
Before ubiquitous electricity, when daylight was fading but it wasn't yet dark enough to justify lighting the candles or lamps, people would take a 'blind man's holiday'. Too dark to work, or read, this is a time of obligatory rest which is no longer part of the rhythm of our lives. How can we reclaim it?
In the novel Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell, the narrator, Mary Smith, doesn't like her host's eco-efficient ways.
"Now Miss Matty Jenkyns was chary of candles. We had many devices to use as few as possible. In the winter afternoons she would sit knitting for two or three hours--she could do this in the dark, or by firelight--and when I asked if I might not ring for candles to finish stitching my wristbands, she told me to "keep blind man's holiday."
"I remember this candle economy particularly annoyed me. I had been very much tired of my compulsory "blind man's holiday," "
While Miss Matty Jenkyns can knit in the dark, most of us need light to work, read, craft or do household tasks. Mary Smith is annoyed, while Miss Matty Jenkyns falls asleep.
Compulsory 'blind man's holiday'
Here in the UK, we aren't regularly without enough light to do what we want, but sometimes circumstances provide us with a compulsory holiday. Being stuck in traffic or on a delayed train. The internet down or a power cut. Storms getting in the way of us being where we plan to be. A broken leg or convalescence. A snow day.
And the unwanted break is hard. There are things we want to do, whether it's finishing stitching wristbands (what even were they?), something important at work, or spending time with lovely people.
For some of us, doing nothing is torture.
It may take a real effort of will to see it as an opportunity to rest.
But if we can, what a gift!
Keep the Sabbath
And yet there are ways we have built the discipline of doing less into our lives. Few people now 'keep the Sabbath', but when I text 'Shabbat Shalom' to my daughter on a Friday evening, I know I'm not going to hear back from her until Saturday because she likes a screen-free space in her week.
I know I'm not alone in loving the days between Christmas and New Year, when people may still technically be working, but the atmosphere is less frenetic.
The popularity of taking a few minutes out for quiet meditation or mindfulness, including via apps like Headspace, is testament to the attraction of doing - almost - nothing for a short amount of time. Retreats, including silent retreats, provide a space to rest and recharge, but also the challenge of being alone with ourselves.
These religious or secular rest and retreat periods give us communal permission, and validate our choice to rest.
We can give ourselves tiny holidays, and include them in our work with groups.
Take a six-minute holiday right now
So now you know about a blind man's holiday, what about some enforced rest for you? Here's a link to six minutes of 'nature sounds' on YouTube. Sit with your eyes closed, or even lie down and do nothing.
Nature sounds
Making the Path by Walking
This post was first published in February 2022’s Making the Path by Walking newsletter. Scroll right down to subscribe.