Newsletter: Learning that I don’t have to be useful

On women, work and the strange guilt of doing nothing. Plus good news stories from around the world, summer recommendations and the story of a Black domestic worker who fought for rest.

I’ve just come back from my summer holiday in Madagascar, and one of the things I’m happiest about is that I managed to rest. There were moments when I just lay in a hammock. Went for a walk. Stared at the stars. And for someone very bad at doing nothing, this felt like an achievement. 

I grew up in Brazil watching my mother and my grandmother do everything. Work, cook, clean, look after people, worry about people, remember things for everyone else. I don’t have any memories of them simply sitting around with nothing to do, or taking a nap.