The S Word....

 I think the term "Self-Care" is getting a bad rap these days - even before the pandemic, there was an overuse of the term as a silver bullet to counteract the manic pace of modern life. Don't get me wrong, self-care is SUPER important, but as awareness rises, I do feel that the term is starting to get sour the longer we are exposed to it. I also think there is often a misconception about what self-care actually means. 

According to the World Health Organisation (2013) Self-Care is defined as "the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, and maintain health and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health-care provider." (WHO, 2013). 

Notice there is not ONE mention of bubble baths, meditation, essential oils etc LOL Sorry, that's my cynicism coming through - I digress! 

There is a quote often ascribed to Brienna West that says: 

Now don't get me wrong, if you're into bubble baths and chocolate cake go for it - I'm a bit partial to a bubble bath and I use them regularly to relax! But I feel like there is something far more fundamental about self-care than just surface stuff. 

So here's my take: I feel like self-care is ANY act that consciously and purposefully seeks to meet your own needs, regardless of societal expectations or external pressures. Sometimes self-care looks like taking your meds. Sometimes self-care is going to a doctor's appointment, getting your teeth cleaned, or going to the chiropractor. 

For example, yesterday I went to therapy, and then I went to see my mortgage broker (financial self care counts too!). I had a rostered day off, and so I had scheduled these appointments so that I didn't have to stress about getting back to work and could just focus on the stuff I needed to get done. None of that was fun, it was pretty boring actually but self-care is about doing the stuff that looks after you and your world, and sometimes it's boring! Having done it though, I came home, had a nap and then took a bath :) 

People roll their eyes when you mention the term self-care, but I see it more as essential maintenance, and whatever I have to do to maintain some degree of resilience and continue to function counts. I don't know about you, but when I'm burning out that's the stuff that gets tossed first - and that's a warning sign for me! It's the kind of thing that's always tacked onto the end of training packages - don't forget your self care blah blah blah. But for me self-care is every single day - it's not an event or something to tick off your list, it's a daily exercising of my right to be ok and to do what I need to do to be ok. 

So today, to be ok, I'm going to take lots of screen breaks, go out into my garden, pick some tomatos and pull some weeds, get some sun and drink some water. I'm going to take things one step at a time and exercise my mindfulness. I hope you do what you need to do today to be ok as well, whatever that happens to be, and I hope you feel good about it!