Datsuzoku: give yourself the real break you deserve that transcends routine
The art of rest: not your typical downtime.
Life can feel like a time suck. You get up, go to work, follow your routine, and go to bed. Repeat. I get tired of the same patterns, habits, and behaviours. You know that feeling: doing the same thing over and over again. You follow the same routine from Monday to Sunday, week after week. Life repeats in an infinite loop. I get fed up. So, I break the cycle on purpose. I mix things up a bit.
I tweak my weekly routine to make time for more deviations.
Life is meant to be experienced, not endured. If everything feels predictable or mechanical, I wake myself up with awe or an element of surprise. I give myself a break from monotony to bring wonder back. And keep life from becoming stagnant.
The Japanese call it datsuzoku.
It means “escaping from the usual” or “stepping outside the ordinary.”
It’s a practice of breaking out of routine, of freeing yourself from patterns that take away that “alive” feeling of being human.
Datsuzoku is all about surprise. Freedom from the usual. The kind of break that shocks you into awareness. It’s not just unwinding; it’s reconnecting with a side of life that’s…
