ON SELF-CARE

When do I know I need a kick in the butt? 

When I feel bored or apathetic. 

When I accomplish something and then ask, “what’s next?”

When I doubt small decisions I make...  

After a full 4 days of doing whatever I pleased over Thanksgiving, eating well, sleeping enough, drinking wine before 5pm and spending time with family, I am reminded that it’s not the things that feel good that always make you feel good. 

There is so much talk about “Self-Care”. Often it is accompanied by a selfie in a face mask or in a rose petal covered bath… but as we care for ourselves, our physical selves, what we don’t realize is that most of us are already in a constant state of making ourselves feel comfortable. Whether we are avoiding eye contact with a neighbor, making an excuse or scratching an itch... we are trying to sooth a part of ourselves. 

What we are soothing is the ego. The part of us that likes resolve, answers, comfort, the perfect temperature, and knowing what comes next. Every time we pacify the ego, aka the voice in our heads, we make those voices stronger. Over time these voices are harder and harder to please.  The more we please, the more the demands become louder and more complicated.

In a lot of ways, self-care is about doing things that push you outside of your comfort zone. Because one knows that caring for oneself means growing and learning. And neither of those things happen with ease. 

There is nothing wrong with taking care of our physical vessel. Hell, keeping our bodies running and operating properly is a feat in and of itself. But as I put on this face mask on this #selfcaresunday, I reflect on what it actually is to take care of oneself??? 

So we have to ask ourselves... which “SELF” are we caring for? The individual self or the higher Self? The ego or our spirit? The small picture or the bigger picture?