Today: Be kind to your body. Love it. Nuture it. Be gentle with your spirit. Listen to what it has to say. Be conscience of mind. Be present in all you do. Today: Do well and do good. This Valentine's Day know, above all, that you are loved. I love you, Michelle The world is full of beauty when your heart is full of love.
Last Saturday myself and about 30 other Wilsonites traveled across the state of NC to Raleigh--the capital. We participated in the 8th annual Historic Thousand on Jones St. The peaceful protest took place to protest laws currently being passed and enforced in North Carolina. Everything from cuts to education, voting rights restrictions, to women's health to name a few. This was my first rally of any kind so I took the opportunity to be an observer and learn. I'm grateful for the experience and had a great time with 2,500 people taking over the city for a few hours (this included dancing through the streets towards the capital building with a handful of other Wilsoners. 'Twas grand!).
Howdy y'all!
I'd like to share a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately: self-care. It started several weeks ago when my brother ended an e-mail with "Take care of yourself". For whatever reason at that time those words made me pause. In the following weeks I began to consider what taking care of myself meant. I landed at some of the most obvious conclusions first, like: getting enough sleep, eating well, stretching, and showering on the daily. Ya know, all the things to keep myself presentable and going from day to day. Lately, (as in for a little over a month) I've felt scattered--emotionally, physically, spiritually. I've simply felt drained. As a result I've thought even more deeply on what taking care of myself means as someone still newly on her own. I realized that while I was doing a fine job to stay fed and well kept I wasn't exactly taken care of my physical or emotional self. An obvious by-product of going to a work-college, one specifically located in the mountains, is that I'm up and moving a good 10-12 hours a day. I love, love, love my life here but there are certainly times when I can feel how weary my body becomes from the constant running. Emotionally, college is just hard. Plain and simple. This is true for a variety of reasons and those reasons are different for every person. For myself, I try to be "there" for a lot of people in a lot of places. Maintaining relationships with people who aren't "here" is always a high priority for me. It's important that I stay connected and feel supportive in relationships. But, often times this approach clouds up my present. It becomes difficult for me to discern where to put my energy. The first thing I've done to take care of myself is stepping back. I was inspired to put this measure into practice for many reasons, but what really forced me to step back was a conversation that was held in my Intro. to Social Work class. The subject of self-care actually came up in discussion and everyone unanimously decided that in order to fully give back we must be in a place where we have things to give. One girl shared a personal mantra she employs when deciding to step up or step back: "Capital B for boundaries". Defining what I'm comfortable with, able to handle, and present enough to be a part has caused a significant shift in how and when I choose to engage or step back. Overall the experience was really encouraging to know that stepping back sometimes is okay--even necessary. College is such a social event. There is always, always something going on, someone to see, or something to do, but everyone has times when they need to care for themselves before caring for others in a successful way which has been important to remember as I've intentionally neglected my social calender these past few weeks. If you're a consistent reader of my lil' ol' blog you may have noticed that haven't been exactly present on the interweb lately. Part of the reason for that is that I've chosen to step back for a while. I've needed time and space to gather myself up, focus on the "here" and manage the life that's in front of me. The beginning of the semester certainly began with a lot of initial challenges that required my full energy here at school. Hopefully, things level out soon. Overall, I'm very energized by the opportunities afforded me this semester and simply want to be able to take them on with grace, strength, and a sense of calm--characteristics that I've been lacking in a bit these first few weeks of the new semester. A good friend of mine was recently also feeling the strain of being back at school which prompted me to make up a little list for her of ways to self-care that I'd like to share with all of you. I encourage you to revise, edit, or add to the list whatever you need to to make your self-care uniquely your own. The awesome thing about self-care is that it's not a "one-size-fits-all" kind of deal. Just because I find knitting my little heart out and watching SNL reruns to be a preferred way to spend a Friday doesn't mean you do. Find what helps you feel good about yourself and run with it. (Oh, and don't apologize either. You deserve to take care of yourself, so please do.) DA LIST OF AWESOME SELF-CARE TIPS: -Snuggle up in bed to do homework (Don't fall asleep, just be comfy and relax while edifying your brain. You deserve it!) -Eat some chocolate (or other favorite sweet treat) -Check your intent (before starting a new project or entering into a new obligation [big or small] ask yourself: if you want to participate, if you can participate, what benefits will arise from your participation, what possible cons are there for you to participate) Self-reflection is really cool and questions such as the aforementioned will help in discerning where to expend energy. Energy is precious and your joy is paramount, make sure each contributes to each. -Go swing on the swing -Jam out to your favorite tunes while singing out at the top of your lungs -Dance -Stretch -Read your favorite poems -Remind yourself of the following daily: you are strong, you are good, you are smart, you are beautiful, and you are loved. You deserve only the best. -Journal -Make a list (or if you're me a new list for every hour) -Color a picture -Talk to a friend (Pick me!) -Call home -Go for a hike -Put on an outfit that you feel your very best in -Smile -Do whatever else you need to do to keep moving forward. Your obligation is to not be the very best, but to only be yourself. Being yourself means moving forward, it means living in gratitude, it means relying on those who love you when you need some help along the way. The end. |
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