other care

This is a reply to a prompt from Katie Gustafson, who hosted a Self Care Workshop this past weekend in Nashville with Allison Fallon and Koula Callahan. While I did not have the opportunity to attend the workshop, I've still been following them and thinking over the past couple of weeks about this writing prompt: What does self care mean to you?

Self care means getting the damn massage.

At first glance, yeah, self care means babying myself. But good, quality self care is a little different because it's about caring for my body, mind, and soul so that I can keep going, doing good work, supporting my household and my practices.

Self care is brushing my teeth and taking regular showers. It’s buying new dandruff shampoo and soap that is gentle and kind.

Self care is writing every day, even just a little bit, to work through the tangled mess that are my thoughts and emotions.

Self care is running consistently - getting in those steps that will relieve tension and make me feel a little more at home in my body.

Self care is eating berries and yogurt for breakfast and starting my day with a glass of water.

Self care is starting my day with my bible and with prayer - trying to find some rootedness for my soul in the days that make up my life.

Self care is the pull and tug of the balance between doing hard things and cushioning the fall when I come home. Self care is asking myself to run farther than I want to, asking my heart to beat and my legs to hurt, and then coming home, taking a shower, rolling out, putting on my compression socks, drinking lots of water, and sitting still for a while. Self care is stepping outside of my comfort zone to be with strangers, and then letting myself feel what I feel when I come home and want to talk it out with Ben, maybe cry a little bit, and take that hot bath and read a favorite book. Self care is both/and.

Self care is pushing myself to grow and then providing safe spaces to heal into the growth.

We talk about self care so much, but I don’t always know what other care looks like. How do we push others to grow while providing safe spaces for them to heal into the growth?