What do you think of first when you hear self-care? Does a spa-day come to mind? Or maybe you think about time away from the day-to-day.
Poet Audre Lorde said “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation”
Self-care isn’t about bubble baths and scented candles (though those can be lovely). At its core, self-care is about giving yourself the capacity to keep going, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Especially when life is hard.
When we care for ourselves, we are protecting the part of us that still believes in what’s possible. Hope requires energy. It requires clarity. It requires the belief that tomorrow is worth working toward and all of that is nearly impossible to sustain if we’re running on empty.
Self-care and hopefulness are intertwined: