Every afternoon I need a sanity break, so I take a nap. I used to think I couldn’t take a nap in the afternoon. There’s too much to do and too much needing to be done. There’s not enough hours in the day to take time out for a nap. A nap is an interruption. A nap is unprofitable. A nap is…well, a nap is necessary. And it’s a skill to be cultivated.

A nap is an interruption to the day; that’s the beauty of it. A nap stops the forward career of the day. It allows an opportunity to stop futilely “spinning your wheels” and to regain traction for true forward movement and progress. After the respite of a nap, I can move with better purpose through the ensuing hours. Instead of hurtling forward unthinkingly, I rise from my nap rested, able to evaluate my priorities once again and then jump back into the round of duties ahead.

A nap, though an interruption, is not unprofitable. It may be unproductive: that is, I won’t be accomplishing any tasks, creating any works of art or cooking any upcoming family meals. But a nap can be very profitable. It can be physically refreshing, mentally relaxing, emotionally quieting and altogether renewing. A nap is a happy state of unconsciousness. It is a unconscious profitability that is an investment in one’s daily store of stamina.

For me, a nap is a necessity. I need the few minutes to remove myself from the flow of life around me. It is very refreshing, but it is a skill that I’ve had to cultivate. I don’t easily lay me down to rest. But I’ve learned to read the signals my body and mind are sending me. “Pushing through” is not a workable option for me on a daily basis. So on most days I’ve built in a pause: time set aside to withdraw. Every afternoon I need a sanity break, so I take a nap.