Self Care

 

Even though it is almost mid January and our  Christmas tree still stands (we enjoy its soft light amidst the darkness of long January days), the holidays really are gone.   Gone too are those feelings of urgency complicit in the preparation and anticipation.  This post holiday lull presents time for regrouping and refocusing.

After devoting much attention to making things for holiday gift giving, January allows me the leisure to make a few things just for me or for our home.  Last week, I stitched together some blocks for a lap quilt destined for our television room. Yesterday morning, I began pinning it to its batting and backing.

This turning inward, this cocooning or hibernating, must be part of a collective exhale, because multiple columns and articles about the topic have appeared lately my reading.  It seems concurrent with the new year comes self-work and self-care.  Self work occurs with all those resolutions we all make, but self-care is a bit different, according to Anne Ard, a local writer and women's activist.   In her column in yesterday's paper, Ard wrote,  "Self-care is about creating time for the self; spending  time doing things that are nourishing, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually."  Knitting, sewing, reading, praying, and walking are all part of my self-care regime, and I know for me they help restore balance, perspective, equilibrium, and peace.

Another article suggests some interesting ways to care for self by listing practices of self-care that make one healthier--staying social, savoring a cup of coffee, eating chocolate, listening to music, taking a nap, spending time outdoors, or raising a glass of wine or beer.  Gosh, I do all of these things, and sometimes several at the same time...

I guess it is natural to turn a bit inward this time of year, and it is important to refill the well when depleted, but the world still needs our tender care and such inward gazing too must be measured carefully. Ancient wisdom agrees. While the oracle at Delphi says to "know thyself" it also advises, "nothing in excess."  It still is all about balance, isn't it?