My Current Self Care Status

Selfcare has been a struggle for me to prioritize over the last few weeks specifically, though I would say it’s been a challenge for me over the years and more so during my graduate school experience. The biggest obstacle has been choosing self-care over working a job to help with finances which have been harder to maintain since starting this graduate education.

I have been choosing to prioritize my little bit of time outside of school and being a mother to practice self-compassion to allow myself to rest, recharge and do things that are basic functions that though some would say attending to basic needs is not self-care, I do feel a long hot shower is a form of privilege and a form of self-care for me.

Lately I have committed to doing daily affirmations when I wake up in the morning. I have two alarms when I wake up in the morning that are ten minutes apart. It used to be simply to accommodate and accept the fact that I was consistently snoozing my alarm in the morning to continue sleeping for 10 minutes. I then realized that I really wasn’t sleeping for an extra ten minutes anymore but I still found myself needing that ten minutes to get out of bed. I would just lay there. Then I was gravitating to checking my phone to quickly skim over any notifications I had for my calendar, my messages, and social media.

I decided to use that time to instead do daily affirmations that I could repeat to myself while still laying in bed. I have found that it has made getting out of bed a lot better for me so far and I have felt a decrease in negative self-talk or self-defeating thoughts. I have a struggle at times of stress with feeling like I am enough which is what I hope the daily affirmations will help with. I have noticed a boost in my confidence since committing to repeating these validating statements each morning.

Another form of self-care is creating art. I create through directing stage plays. But it can be overwhelming to direct a full length play because of the time commitment required. I have shifted to only directing very short plays or at the very least short production contracts in terms of time frames to be able to have less risk of it becoming a stressful obligation and still get to enjoy the process of creating.

It gives me joy to research and analyze a play script, make casting decisions and collaborate with designers to create the world depicted in the play. I love working with actors to help tell the story the playwright has written. I thrive in situations where I can collaborate with others in an artistic way which then gets to be shared with an audience.

There is a cathartic experience the audience, the artists as well as me have through theatre. This cathartic experience is my favorite form of self-care. It has been my favorite way to cope, connect and learn since I was thirteen years old. Since winter break, I have been directing a short new play festival which will be performed at the end of February into the beginning of March. It has been a very welcome and needed act of self-compassion to allow myself to take time to engage in art making over the last few weeks with the group dynamics immersion occurring recently.

Another form of self-care is spending time with those I care about. This includes my family, and my friends doing activities together. This past week I had time to cuddle with my son while watching television together, having phone chats with close friends and date nights with my husband. The past Sunday my husband, my son, my puppy and I went to the park on a very Sunny morning to play, this was somewhat stressful, but the time was still rejuvenating for me because it was a healthy dose of challenge which reminds me to stay present with the ones I love.

My hope is to continue fostering these social interactions to better all of our well being and not just my own, because knowing we are all having a better quality of life gives me fulfillment.