“Self-care is often a very unbeautiful thing.” — Brianna Wiest
Ah —
A salt bath
A bubble bath
Yoga, or a martini
A manicure, a haircut
Or a bowl of spaghettini.
Why not? Don’t be a meany.
Self-care will look different for the people who know they need it.
So what if yoga is not the kind of self-care that you need today?
Getting closer to becoming who you want to be:
heeding the call on limitations and exhaustion,
praying, reconnecting with your higher power
actualizing latent potentials, expanding passion projects
allowing more attention to passion projects — creativity
finally, disassociating with toxic individuals…
Cooking a healthy meal,
calling it a day earlier,
fine-tuning the new routine.
Sleeping in on Wednesday,
staying in on Friday,
taking breaks more often,
scheduling a few blog posts,
leaving your phone behind.
Letting go of distractions,
sticking to a routine,
reading a new genre,
tidying a messy drawer,
asking for help!
Needing less.
A walk—alone?
A mud-bath?
Ah!
It might look unbeautiful.
It will look like what you need.
Self-care is not what others say it is.
© selma
*
“Love the work in progress that IS You!”
First appeared many moons ago on Medium.
I walk, daydream, and sleep in whenever I can.
I take long baths and leave my phone at home.
In my yard, I tell pleasantries to my flowers,
And at home, you can find me slow-reading a book.
You? What’s your self-care routine?
THANK YOU FOR READING
I Wish You Miracles
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Love this, Selma! You had me at the pig photo, the rest was just icing on the chocolate fudge cake.
My favorite form of self-care is visiting the forest, surrounded by blue skies and circling hawks. Going to the forest now…
Happy to have found your blog, my friend.
So the piggies doing what they need to do — that pic grabbed your attention. Wonderful. Then I did something right. Haha.
Thanks, my friend. You’re a gem for coming by. I appreciate the comment. (Sorry it took me this long to acknowledge).
Walks. I love them too. Enjoy!! IWYM
My self care is lying on my back, staring at the ceiling and embarking on a journey of introspection. It used to be going to the jungle/forest like Aurora, but I don’t move around outside much now. I like the questions you ask us at the end of your posts, Selma. They are food for thought, and it feels nice to answer them.
As long as it serves to refresh you, all is good, Tanmay.
Yay, to self care. 👏🏽
100% agree my friend. Self care is so very important
Self care is how we recover and refresh. Thanks, Sadje.
Very right my friend
Somewhat like you, my self-care activities are quite varied. They tend to be creative in some way, but not always. Sometimes, it’s just a dedicated movie day, or general puttering around the home, reorganizing. Rose-scented Epsom salts go a long way, often. Hmm, an inspiring topic you’ve prompted with this discerning poem of awareness.
A fav of mine too! ❣️
We all need regular reminders. Right?
Self care is important. Blessings.
Always Selma!!!💗
I’m so happy you read and shared your varied points. We need to make room for us. So happy for your lovely response. Keep doing what you doing. Blessings. Come again please. Xoxo
Yes to this… in a pig sty mess or martini glass.. whatever floats your boat.. love it! 💞
Whatever floats your boat, correctly! Xoxo 😘
oink oink 🐖
Author of recreate and celebrate, you know all about self care—oink oink Bless you lady.
Um, did you see my recent reviews? For Lauren Scott’s “More Than Coffee” Hope it shows on Amazon like soon!
Congrats to you for the amazing things you do. Xoxo 😘
haha. yes indeed.
I did not. I missed it.. You’re so kind and no clue how you read so much!
Thanks so much. Is your release coming soon?
We all need different things at different time. Exactly right Selma. (K)
Unbeautiful though it may be, we need to do what works.
Thanks, K. Xoxo
We can’t give out what we don’t have – I am all for self-care, Selma 🙌 💖
It’s most important—no matter how unbeautiful 😜 👏🏽
Thanks for reading and commenting, dear one. Blessings.
Oh, Selma, this post couldn’t be more timely for me. I love your words, your wisdom, your compassion. Not to mention, those piggies are so adorable. Last week, I had debilitating right foot pain that came out of the blue and now has me laid up. I can walk but minimally, and it’s just not me to be immobile. So many tasks around the house are calling me, but I have to ignore them. Luckily, my hubby is taking care of me and those tasks that I can’t. Blogging, writing, and working on my book are distracting me from wondering exactly what is causing the pain. My appointment is next week. Anyway, I don’t mean to bore you, but I just want you to know that this post resonates because I have had to ask for help, and it’s not always easy. 🙂
Now shifting lanes, I commented on your review post yesterday for More than Coffee. I saw the link come in on my blog, and you truly made my day!! This morning, it showed up on Amazon! Yay! I plan to share it soon on my blog. So, thank you again! Hugs and love! 🩷
Right foot pain–I am no expert but I’d say massage the knee and then the hip. Our bodies are such well tuned machines and all connected. And wouldn’t you know it–just when you’re so busy with deadlines and commitments. It’s also telling you to take it easy, dear friend. So a long soak in a warm tub would work. I hope you recover soon. Praying for good news from your medical team.
I get bouts of vertigo of late. I need to go slow, and I am. And somethings have to give: in my case it’s the quick responding. Do not get me wrong, I love to receive comments… love them. They light me up like a Christmas tree. Always. And I love responding to them. They help to make me feel connected. I need to curb my enthusiasm. I do. So forgive if my replies come in too slow. They will come. Promise.
Glad you saw the pingback and came over to investigate. It was my absolute pleasure to do that. Not a word of it is fake. May your success continue. Hugs and love to you. And to your right foot too. Blessings. (when is the launch?)
Vertigo isn’t fun either, Selma, so we just have to recognize when we reach the point of needing to slow down. I feel we both are there. Oh my gosh, no worries about comments! I’m behind on reading blogs because of working on my work. And the pain has knocked all concentration out of me a few times to where I lost screen time. Anyway, we do what we can, and I am happy to know you, dear Selma. You are a lovely soul! As to my book, I plan to release the last week of June. I hope to finish tweaking this week. Thank you for your offer to help. I appreciate it and will be in touch! Much love and many hugs to you! ❤️🙏🏻
Last week of June. Now I know. Mine will come right behind yours. I’ll support you how I can. Go, go, go! You have the practice already. So proud of you. 🥹 👏🏽
I’ll post about once I’m finished, and I didn’t know you have a book coming out either! Is it a poetry book? I appreciate your support and offer the same to you too. I’m excited for your book! 🤗🎉👍🏻💜
Thank you, Lauren. Yes, poetry. My first. And I will never steal the spotlight from you, so please don’t fret–I didn’t plan it this way–it just happened. I’ll help you create buzz. I’m here for you. Tell me what you need. Blessings.
I’m not worried about that, Selma. I’m happy for you, especially with this book being your first. This is an exciting time for you, so enjoy it! I’m compiling and formatting my book with the help of my son, and I plan to finish this week. I will be organizing a blog tour, so if you’d like to take a date on the tour, that would be wonderful. But it might be too much with your book coming out soon after mine. I’ll email definitive info later and you can decide. Either way is fine. I’ll do the same for you. This is my fourth book in the span of a decade. 🙂 Hugs xo