Have a lot of Pillows

“Have a lot of pillows”

What does that mean? What kind of wisdom could that possibly be?

I heard an interview on Morning Edition on National Public Radio (npr) with DJ Khaled, speaker and author of “The Keys.” He explains that he comes up with keys of wisdom for any situation in the moment. They just come to him. These keys are in modern day vernacular, the language of the street, the language of young people today. This wisdom is guidance for the young people of today, put in their language.

One such key is “Have a lot of pillows.” He means it literally. On page 126 of “The Keys” he says:

 “Pillows are important. When you’re supposed to sleep, you’ve gotta sleep like a king or a queen. Every time you turn, there should be something comfortable to greet you, and that softness reminds you of parts of your body. It’s time to relax.”

He claimed he has lots of pillows in his bed on the tour bus so that every time he turns, there’s a pillow.

My take on being surrounded by pillows

This is so profound to me. When you are sleeping surrounded by soft comfort, feeling the pillow is a physical reminder to rest more. Turning in bed and being greeted by a soft pillow to remind the body to relax is so important to getting deep rest. There is no opportunity to get uptight in this situation. Every reminder to relax allows deeper relaxation and rest.

I see this applying not only to sleeping, but also to daily life.

Relax into every moment.

Rest your greatness

Then he is talking about “resting his greatness.” To me, it’s not boasting, it’s an acknowledgment that when you do big things in the world, like being an author on a speaking tour, you have to rest deeply to be able to show up authentically for those to whom you are speaking.

That is resting at night while sleeping as well as resting in his greatness while out on tour. When resting, the greatness of what you have to say comes through. It is not about trying to be great, but about innate greatness, the life force coming through and connecting with others.

And it doesn’t only have to be when you are doing what is considered to be big things in the world. Every moment, in any situation, when you show up as authentic, you are being great. That is what the world needs, people being themselves, not trying to be something for the sake of appearances. Because when you are yourself, you have a chance to deeply connect with others as well as do what you were put on Earth to do.

Resting deeply

I get it on a deep level. And I also see the many implications that spin out of the idea of having pillows, both literally and metaphorically. Resting has been my theme lately. Not only is resting important for a balanced life and for sleep and for health, as I am telling my patients.  I am constantly playing with a deeper meaning of rest.

When I am resting in the present moment, I am resting my attention only now.

Resting has the connotation of doing it without effort, whereas the idea of putting my attention somewhere can have a sense of effort to it. Resting is accomplished very gently without trying and without straining. Resting in the present moment can sound abstract and mysterious, but it is nothing other than resting in who you are at your core.

And that is something to be experienced and not figured out with the mind.

I am most “me” when resting

Resting is simply being me, at the deepest essence, which is greatness. The reality of who I really am is the same as what you really are, and that is great. It is the life force running through the universe, animating you and me and creating our experience. And that experience has the potential to change how we act and experience the world.

Plus at any moment that I am aware that I am resting in this moment, I can rest back even more. There is no end to the amount I can rest. The nature of who I am is infinite, so by definition, there can always be more, including more rest. This is something I experience, resting even more and more and more.

Rest is not being lazy

And by resting, I don’t mean being lazy or being inactive. My experience is that by resting in this moment, action comes of itself as the creative intelligence within has the opportunity to create something more. We sometimes associate resting with stagnation or lack of growth. From the perspective I am presenting, resting is the key to growth because it can happen from the creative intelligence within and that is experienced as joyful and satisfying.

Surrounded by social support

There is another connotation to the pillows surrounding me. In life, I see the personal and social support around me as comforting and supportive as pillows. When I lean into my friends and mentors, I can rest into the challenges of life with their support. Everything becomes more doable when it happens from that resting place. There is little resistance to the new when I am resting with support.

Being surrounded by people who are supporting me and I am supporting them, the greatness inside of me can easily come forward. The most inspired and greatest action comes from resting.

Can you see now that the key to life is resting and pillows can be a reminder of that?

Are you inspired to “have lots of pillows?” Please leave a comment below.

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