We take care of others with all our might and our effort. We push our limits because the people around us always tell us that we can make it. But, doing this could just leave a void in our lives creating an empty shell. Therefore, we must care for ourselves as well before doing so many things.

A Guided Discussion About Self-Care

Taking care of others has always been a part of our lives. Our mothers did that to us when they first knew that we were conceived. Following diets and doing prenatal exercises, they did it all just to make us healthy. Well, all of us since they are doing it for both of our sakes. However, who takes care of them when they are sick?

The speaker for this discussion is Christine Rollings. Christine together with her husband Trent are co-founders of Narrative Coffee Company in Salcedo Village, Makati. She has her Masters in Counseling from Cairn University in Pennsylvania. Actually, we both enjoy reading, writing and tea! It’s quite funny because we almost have the same name. Hers is spelled with a “Ch” and mine starts with “K” and we both are huggers which really cute!

I met her at an event in The Office Project way back 2015 or 2016. Though we haven’t been in touch then, I remembered her cheery and optimistic personality. Something that reminded me of myself as well. Personally, I was excited about this event because life can become toxic in some ways and could really get the best of you. Doing things and pursuing your passion and aspirations can drain you to the point that you’re just an empty shell. Once a while, it’s good to learn new things and meet new people and connect with them.

The event was held last February 28, from 6pm to 8pm at The Office Project (TOP).

The Discussion

It feels good to be back in TOP. The familiar feeling of being a creative hub and a place for freelancers and alike was coming back. Truly, a feeling that I missed and would want to feel again. Recuperating from an illness was hard especially if you were partially deaf and could not breathe properly. Who took care of me? No one else but me, myself and I.

The Self-Care Journal

For starters, each of the participants received a copy of this notebook or journal. This is where you will write or draw your notes or whatever you feel like doing during the discussion. From the title itself, there are guide questions along the way that will aid you in thinking out ways in taking care of yourself.

It’s a fact that we sometimes go overboard in doing certain things because we want to be stable at some point. However, the opportunity cost will always be our health. Overworking because we want to achieve something.

[bctt tweet=”Don’t sacrifice your health for anything. Love yourself and take good care of your body.” username=”Mariaisquixotic”]

How are you currently feeling?

How will you answer this? It’s a simple question with a complex answer. An answer that may be answered with a word, a sentence, or a paragraph. It all depends on how you see things and your perspective.

There were three (3) boxes on this page which contained choices for the question:

• I have no space in my life. Traffic. Family. Work. Friends. Sidelines. I’m tired. I don’t have time to care for myself well.
• Okay lang. 🙂 (or I’m okay.)
• A blank box where in you are at the liberty on whether you will write your answer or draw it.

Of course, I wrote mine since I do not have any talent in drawing. I wrote meh. It was neither. Being at some point in your life is something but accomplishing things with your own prowess is another. It just feels fulfilling when you reach things independently.

For example, taking care of yourself while you’re sick is challenging especially if you are alone at some place that’s so far away from home.

After that question, there’s a blank page wherein you may continue writing or drawing how you are feeling right now.

What gives you life?

Life is composed of various aspects like physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. What gives you life for these aspects? How do you recharge to be able to do physical activities?

We were asked to fill out the table that was divided into four (4). The table consisted of the major aspects of life that could influence us greatly. From physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, we enumerated activities that could recharge us under these categories.

To share a few, here what were mentioned during the discussion about physical:

• Sleeping
• Eating
• Going home to the province

Discussing the emotional aspect led us to these:

• Hugs – may it be long hugs, back hugs. It makes you feel secure and warm especially if you feel that there’s a void in there.
• Taking long walks could allow a person to think about certain things. This could crossover with the mental aspect as well.
• Venting out – this helps you release emotion and thoughts that may have been bottled up for a while now.

About the mental aspect:

• Reading
• Writing (may it be in the form of blogging or poetry or whatever kind)
• Attending workshops wherein you may learn something new. This could satisfy the need for knowledge since humans keep on evolving and making new discoveries almost every single day.
• Art

Lastly, the spiritual aspect:

• Meditating
• Sharing your blessings with others (in forms of donations or volunteering)
• Going to church

There are various ways to recharge from a stressful day, week, or month. Doing some of these could actually help you breathe in some freshness while living in a city which can be both toxic and sane. I forgot to mention that mentioned doing calligraphy and blogging to activities that could recharge me emotionally and mentally. Walking with my dogs freshens up my physical being especially doing it at home in Legazpi. Having a moment with God will always be my favorite spiritual activity. It could be by meditating or just celebrating mass.

What’s your way of recharging yourself? Or better, what gives you life?

Realizations

We face a lot of things from our day to day lives but despite accomplishing those, we can’t help feel drained. Things can be really tiring and we can’t help but just ask for a break where we can just breathe. Even if people around us tell us that we can do this, there will always come to a point wherein we just can’t feel anything. We are just a shell walking around like a zombie wanting some brain. Too tired to function? Get some rest, asap!

The things we do are essential to us and if you are a creative living in a harsh world, being awake when everyone else are sleeping is the new normal. Doing things in the wee hours of the day is our favorite hobby because it’s when the ideas flow endlessly.

It’s going to be a lifelong regret if we ignored those ideas because once they’re gone, you won’t see them again. Maybe someday, when someone has picked that idea up and turned it into something productive already.

While we still can, we have to love ourselves before thinking of others’ welfare. You’ll never know if they think about yours too. It’s a cruel world and we must not be cruel to ourselves. They deserve so much for enduring the things we do. While we’re at it, let’s change things one step at a time.

Let me ask you a question.

What is one change you can make (after reading this) to take better care of yourself?

UPDATE!

There will be a second part of the Guided Discussion about Self-Care on March 28, 2017 from 6pm to 8pm at The Office Project. This is in collaboration with Woomen.ph and Narrative Coffee Company.

To register, click this. There is a door charge of Php 300 which is inclusive of workshop kit, speciality coffee from Narrative Coffee Company and a chance to win a coworking pass from TOP.