We Need This Right Now
So.
I’m writing to you this morning from Texas.
Faced with a family situation that had to be addressed before it finished devolving into a full-blown emergency, I made the decision to brave air travel.
It was harrowing despite my N95 mask, zip-loc of Clorox wipes, and obsessive use of hand sanitizer.
But here I am.
I was reminded yet again how much collective stress we are all experiencing.
How even the smallest decisions (“Is it safe to take a sip of water on this 6-hour flight?”) come with a whole host of considerations to weigh.
How our usual de-stressors are either not available or available in very limited capacity (access to friends/family, going to a movie or a yoga class or a restaurant, etc).
How some variation of “tired” makes it into the response of almost every person I ask, “How are you?”
Are you feeling this?
And I was reminded again of how easy it is during times of stress to let the things that keep us whole slip.
We forget that these are the times that it’s more important than ever to stay grounded in what matters to us and to draw the boundaries, take the space, practice the self-care that keeps us able to stay creative, stay patient, stay healthy, stay sustainable in our lives for however long it takes for whatever the world will look like from here to take form.
Self-care is a buzz word these days and I know it’s lost meaning for many of us.
But the thing is, that fact doesn’t change how very vital it is.
Look.
We wouldn’t expect a toddler to be at their best if we stuffed them with junk food, deprived them of sleep, stuck them in front of a screen for endless hours, and barely interacted with them.
Does anyone else find it odd that we think we don’t respond in the same way a toddler does?
Spoiler alert: We totally do.
It’s just that our tantrums usually looks like fighting with people we care about and self-sabotage when it comes to the lives we want.
So for the next month or so, I’m going to dive deeper into one specific are of self-care each week.
What it looks like (and what it doesn’t), how we can work it into our real lives, and why it matters when the world feels like it’s burning down around us, either personally or collectively.
Each week I’ll ask you to join me in a specific practice for the week.
It won’t be revolutionary, but it will make your life better.
This isn’t a “challenge”— I’m not sure any of us need more challenge in our lives right now.
But it is an invitation.
Let’s equip ourselves to keep fully showing up in our lives, for our people, for our passions and our work and our callings.
We owe it to ourselves and to our world.
This week, your homework is to take stock of where you are right now.
What are you feeling? What are you doing day in and day out? Where are you spending your time? Your energy? What does your body feel like? Your mind? Your spirit?
Share this blog post with anyone you know who could use a few weeks of being invited into deeper care for themselves. Anyone who is feeling tired right now. Disheartened or weary.
Let's do this together.
Taking care of ourselves doesn’t fix the ills of the world, I know.
But it does equip us to keep working to fix them, to stay strong and well and hopeful and creative in the face of them.
It allows us to have the energy for compassion and solutions.
Which makes it the first step every time.
So I’ll see you next week and we’ll get to it. I can't wait.
Stay curious out there, my friend.