Today I am looking at all the usual things- sipping of warm coffee, a brief phone call with my sister in law, the comfort of sitting at my home office desk, an unusual decision to stay in my pj’s, the choice to bury myself in office work, taking note of the sifting snowflakes fluttering outside my window, and even the brief tummy rubs I was permitted to give my stoic, aloof and smelly old dog Josie—as self-care.
The election has been a heart breaker. If you are reading my blog, I will assume that regardless of your vote, you can agree with me there. It does not matter who you voted for, or who won. It is a heart breaker regardless. It is a heart breaker because we are human and feel the division, because even though we can logically understand political ‘sides’ we are all people—in America, in Israel, in Palestine, in Russia, in Ukraine, in -on and on- and everywhere else—with our very own hopes, fears, needs, and personal perspectives. And so, if you are a reasonable human, there is heart break. Voting makes it feel acute, but we all know that heart break is available each and every day.
There are days when I feel big and capable in this world. Today, with the gray sky, the snow slowly stacking up on the ground, and the other bleak reminders of winter keeping me tucked into my office, I feel small. Not hopeless, not overwhelmed, not even (at this moment) terribly upset with the atrocities of the world, just small—like I don’t want to put-on grown-up clothes and adult today. So instead, I am enjoying the basics; taking care of myself the way I teach, and push, others to do but rarely actually do myself.
I say it often but here it is again: self-care is deeply personal and does not need to be complicated or even cost one dime. Today, my self-care means leveraging what I have at this moment, and what is easily available that ‘fills my cup’. Today that really is warm coffee, jammies, office work, writing a long overdue blog post, chatting on the phone, choosing to stay inside, and knowing that I will be back to my usual self tomorrow. Tomorrow I will get properly dressed, walk my dogs, take a barre class with people I enjoy, connect with interesting clients, pick up a few supplies for a rescue puppy that I will be fostering later this week, and be my usual big and capable self.
Today, however, I am grateful for my self-care lean-in to a warm home, a fridge with a few leftovers in it, and the choice to get caught up on the little things. Of course, as always, I hope that you too are able to carve out what you need today, and every day.
If you could use some more concrete self-care inspo—I have some for you. Simply click here: https://bit.ly/Self-caretune-up and download the Self-Care Tune-up that I created for you. I hope you enjoy.
Until next time, friends.
