Lately, my days have been all about self-care.
In some ways they are similar to the time I often refer to, way back when this whole journey to self-love began. When I was in that ‘rough patch’ I talk about and didn’t know where my life was going. It was then that I started picking up the camera and would go for long photo walks, exploring different parts of town, taking paths or turns I hadn’t taken before.
Slowly, that path led me to a place in my life where I found my way back to myself, to a life that in many ways feels like home.
These days, the way I feel drawn to spend my days is familiar. Thankfully, this time I don’t feel like I’m in a depression, just grieving & some stress and worry that have me feeling like the earth is shaking under my feet a bit.
The familiar overlap in both of these times is that I needed to focus in and relearn how I could cultivate more self-care and refill my well again.
Last year around this time I was focusing on self-care too, and started creating some ‘self-care policies’ for myself of journalling at the beginning and end of each week and going for weekly hikes in the forest. The ideas I was exploring in creating this plan for myself led me to offer the Creating Self-Care Policies Class.
A year later I’m left wondering yet again: What do I need to do to take care of myself right now?
Its not that my Self-Care Policies from last year don’t still apply, but with all of the stuff going on I’m feeling drawn to listen in again and really notice what I most need right now.
The cafe I loved to go to journal at has now closed and every time I think about going for a big hike lately something in me says “softer” “gentler” “just walk”.
So I’m doing my best to listen to what I need and let go of my old self-care policies in order to really do what I need right now rather than guilting myself for not doing my usual self-care tools.
I feel SO drawn to go on really long walks these days. I know for those of you with busy families that wouldn’t be an option (which of course is why we get to figure out what our own self-care plan is). Somedays a short walk is enough to shift energy for me but lately I’ve kind of been going for epic walks around the city.
For me, right now, when the weather allows…my heart is calling for these long walks to refill my own well. Hours and hours of walking, letting emotions or thoughts arise and flow as I move.
On Saturday I walked all the way from my home to a beach on the other side of town along the gorgeous sea wall. Just me, a good pair of walking shoes and my camera.
About an hour into the walk I noticed that I was grinning widely and that I had been for about 5 minutes straight (you know that feeling when you’ve been smiling so wide that your cheeks hurt) and I felt like I was finally filling up my own well of energy & support again, from myself.
I took the photo that I’m sharing at the end of my walk when I reached the beach…and that felt like the truth of the moment…not to be confused with the truth of every moment these days, as it has been quite the opposite. But it felt so worthy to document that moment of feeling really filled up.
All those years ago photography and going on photo adventures taught me a tool that helps me fill up my own well and to a large degree, keep it filled up.
I wanted to share this with you partially because so much of my days right now are filled with work and yes, self-care. As well, I think we can get really focused on one tool of self-care when what we really need to do is just listen in day by day to what we need to do to fill up our own wells again be it taking a short photo walk and turning the camera on ourselves, or taking some time to just read.
I also wanted to share this as up until Valentines Day, I’m having a little sale on the Creating Self-Care Policies class…if you enter the code SELFLOVE the class is half price!
It is a self-paced class so as soon as you sign up, class will begin the same day! In the class we explore ideas behind self-care and cultivating a plan that works for you right now…that involves listening in to what you really need to fill up your own well and to keep it filled up!
How about you? How do you fill up your own well & what are your go-to self-care tools these days? I’d love to know…