Big Sister Advice #3

Starting this year, in addition to the Q & A, I’ll offer you some general words of wisdom, or stuff to think about, as you find helpful.

On Self-care

I know in the past decade or so self-care has become such a popularized thing, filled with advice about massages and pedicures and bubble baths. Trying to keep up with commercial self-care has become such a burden because it can feel like one more thing that you’re supposed to be doing, and therefore something that you might feel like you’re failing at.

I want to share my view of self-care with you though. Self-care for me describes the things that I do to create space for myself. Usually when I feel most in need of self-care, it’s because life has become so busy that I feel like I don’t even have time to think. So I create space for myself: I clear my calendar for a day or a weekend, I make time for extra sleep, I embrace silence and solitude, I clean and organize my home.

So how can you create space for your self as you need it? It could be a regular space in your schedule to make it a practice, or space as needed to rejuvenate and restore yourself, or both. Maybe it’s a short walk, or a long shower, or a nap, or making some art, or rearranging your living room. Figure out what makes you come back to yourself, and push things aside to do that as you need to.