“The only rule is work.”

Have you been working too hard, or just too much, like all the time—WORKING? Maybe some of you reading here are a lot like me, and we LOVE work and working. Or we convince ourselves that we do and use work as an escape from other things we might not want to face because work is unquestionably GOOD. Making work, putting in the work, working for living; work is noble and good. I used to keep Sister Corita’s 10 Rules on my studio wall. I hadn’t thought of it in a while when an image of the rules floated into my mind’s eye: the orderly yet slightly wonky rows; the wavering Lettraset type; and Rule 7, written out in oversized type, “The only rule is work.” I’ve been struggling with the concept and reality of work lately and almost started to cry at the memory of Rule 7, but I was also sort of laughing to myself at the simultaneous truth and absurdity of it. Sister Corita goes on: “If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things.” I realized how deeply I’d internalized her rules for artmaking as rules for life: work will lead to something, and if I’m one of the people who does all the work all of the time, then I will catch on to things. A confusion of work for purpose, meaning, and identity was already rooted to my core when I first discovered Sister Corita’s rules for the art department she led at Immaculate Heart College in the 1960s, and Rule 7 substantiated my longing to be led to “something” and to catch on to “things.” A few things I’ve caught on to by working all the time is that one of the things work can lead to is burnout; that some work doesn’t lead anywhere at all; and that many, many people who do all the work all of the time are exploited. Another thing I’ve caught on to is that we all need rest. Yes, work IS noble and good, and if we’re very lucky it can lead us to something affirmative and help us catch on to things that are transformational. Now I see Rule 7 (“the only rule”—!!!) as being more spiritual than pragmatic, interpreting “work” to mean something less like labor and more like attention, or attentiveness. I’m becoming more attentive to my own needs and seeking support where I can. I’m also giving myself permission (and have the privilege to be able) to rest this season. If you can, I hope you will, too.

This month in Dear CP, a question about hiring support staff, and an Hallelujah for The Nap Ministry in this month’s recommendation from the Ideas & Resources doc.

P.S. When I was writing this, I remembered a recent newsletter from business consultant Holly Howard in which she mentions Sister Corita’s rules, so I went back to read it. She has some lovely things to say about different kinds of work; click here to read.

Dear CP, I’m excited that I have more and more opportunities to exhibit and sell my work, and I feel really lucky. At the same time, I’m getting burned out, trying to make the work I need to make while also keeping up with email and general operations at my studio. I never thought I’d be able to hire anyone to help me, but I think I’m now in a financial position that makes that possible. I have a lot of big questions about hiring someone, being someone’s “boss,” having someone else in my studio space for the first time… It’s a lot. But I’m writing in to ask the two basic questions that have kept me from hiring someone yet: What do I have to do to be an employer, from a legal standpoint? And how much should I pay a studio assistant? Thanks for any insight you can provide!

I’m excited for you that your work is being seen and is circulating in the world! I understand and relate to the fact that you never expected to hire anyone to help you. I’m right there with you, and I think this is the case for a lot of people in our community. We never thought we’d be able to (or perhaps we never thought we’d need to) hire any help, so we haven’t previously taken the time to learn the legal, financial, and leadership skills required to bring others into our work environment. On the other side of the same coin, some of us dream of a day when we have support, but then when the time comes to assemble a team, we don’t know what steps to take or how to be a leader. I’ve been fielding a lot of questions in client meetings lately about hiring, paying, and supervising workers that come from both sides of this proverbial coin, so you are not alone on your journey! Read my full response here…

Ideas & Resources for Art Workers | This month from the Ideas & Resources doc: The Nap Ministry, an art as activism project established in 2016 by Tricia Hersey. Under the banner “REST IS RESISTANCE,” The Nap Ministry makes space for rest and wholeness via collective napping experiences, lectures, teaching, and social media posts that operate like public service address messages reminding us of our humanness and our need for rest. The Nap Ministry is especially focused on Black women and the epigenetic trauma and exhaustion passed down through the history of enslavement and life amid white supremacy and racial capitalism in America. In the lead-up to the first year of Juneteenth’s recognition as a federal holiday this week, Ms. Hersey posted: “Been seeing a lot of dissertation length posts from Black folks to white folks explaining what to do for Juneteenth and I want y’all to understand slavery is over and y’all don’t need to work for free any longer. Go lay down.” The Nap Ministry encourages people of color to embrace the right to rest and reminds white people that Black people do indeed have this right. Ms. Hersey’s meditations on the lack of collective mourning over our myriad collective pandemic losses are also welcome medicine; in one recent post on pandemic-induced exhaustion and grieving, she wrote: “...Stop pushing folks and yourself so much. Truly slow down when you can.” and commented: “One thing you learn when living within grind culture is how to just move on and disembody. You just keep going and ignore your need for rest, care, reflection, space, silence, time, grieving. We will have to craft portals of our own to do this. The big question is: when will you begin to accept what is happening in our culture? We will not be able to emerge from it whole if we don’t slow the hell down.”

I hope you’re crafting your own portal for rest this season and slowing the hell down when you can.

Till next time…