Rest is actually work: How resting made me a better signer

Originally published on Medium

I was working as an ASL interpreter when the 2020 pandemic started. This meant I drove around a lot to interpret for the Deaf community in different situations. Basically anywhere you imagine a person being — at a doctor’s appointment, in a college class, at a conference — I was there, interpreting and supporting a colleague working with me.

And in between all that interpreting, I signed at church and with church friends. And I practiced at home because I like to improve my language skills. So I did a lot of signing.

But you know what really improved my sign language ability? What made my signing improve so much that a Deaf professional wanted to know how I did it, was I getting mentored?

When he asked the question, I paused for a split second. I thought about it. What had I done?

Well, nothing.

I hadn’t done anything different. Just being home, not working as much, resting more than I ever had, becoming more myself and less anxious.

Oh.

I smiled, shrugged and signed my answer: No, I’ve been resting.