Notes on Self-Care
It's been said if you don't take care of your wellness, you will be forced to take time for your illness. Here's how I know that to be true: When I was 32, I got sick. C-word sick. And you know what I did? I kept working. No one told me to stop. This is the culture we live in.
It probably sounds weird to be grateful to Covid, but I am. I had barely pulled the E-brake on my daily grind when quarantine pulled the rest of the globe into a stalled halt. After Cancer, I wasn't scared. I went to the shops and my yoga classes until the very last shut down. And then I cried.
Here's the thing that we in the Western Hemisphere seem oblivious to - our bodies, like the planet we all share, are closed systems. That means everything is connected. So you might push something down over here, completely deny it over there, but it's going to rear its ugly head somewhere else. For me, after a brief lifetime of abusive relationships, unhealed trauma, and self-destructive habits (that I will not catalog here aside from working myself to near-death), I got sick.
And then I got a lucky break. After every kind of diagnostic test imaginable, it was determined there was no known cause (genetic, or otherwise) for my cancer, nor is it likely to recur. So many are not so lucky. (Note to Reader: This is never to imply that cancer is OUR FAULT - it is NOT, and THAT is another topic called TRAUMA, about which I may write another day).
All of this to say, I got the crash-course in Self-Care. And then Covid put us all through the ringer, and I became an Honor Student. It's a lot more fun when you make daily, weekly, monthly rituals to take sweet care of yourself and reap the benefits in advance of life's curve-balls. It's a lot more rosy when you set healthy boundaries (with yourself and anyone else taking from you) before things get so dark. This isn't about instant gratification. This is about a nice, long life.
Corporate is starting to wise-up, providing incentives for preventive healthcare like reductions on premiums for non-smokers and stipends for mindfulness apps. Insurance (somewhat of a joke, no matter where you source it) has yet to catch up. Based on the State of Our Union, I'd say we have a ways to go. And so we should!
My self-care begins with prayer and meditation (both free), and tops out with the obvious vintage binge, fitness classes, and high-end beauty treatments (material boosts to spirit ARE self-care when mindful to budget). We all have our things. And a spoonful of sugar…
I'm getting personal because I want You, Dear Reader, to know how important this IS. I've learned the hard way that shame and hate and blame only destroy me. It's hard work to convert that nasty shit to something better, but it's worth it. ALWAYS.
KR
SK
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