HUM 6930 – The Art of Self Care

Working on Balance

As we make the turn towards completing the course, we have begun to populate our self-care template. As posted last week, I chose to utilize an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my self-care activities. I am still undecided about using this format as it feels like work rather than a ritual practice that I would look forward to on a daily or even weekly basis. Bloom (2001) shares a checklist that looks suspiciously like an Excel spreadsheet in which he populates the header with activities and then provides a key of various symbols to document whether the activity was performed or not as well as to what degree of success. I also like his twelve week program suggestions, especially the one about placing an image of a person, place or activity that I enjoy on my bathroom mirror as well as in locations at work where I would see it regularly. For many years, I had a practice of posting affirmations on my bathroom mirror and kept a deck of 3" x 5" cards with affirmations in my purse so that I could read them when I was having a bad day. I still have those cards and come across them every now and then and it makes me pause and realize just how much they helped me during the troubled times in my past marriage.

This week I bought a little picture frame to put on my desk at work. I should have bought two so that I could put both a picture of my granddaughter with her parents and of my husband – the people who bring me the most joy in my life. And now that I am writing this, I need three so that I can also put a beautiful photo of the Caribbean, the place that makes my heart sing.

Below is the beginnings of my self-care activity documentation. It was a busy but very satisfying week. I was able to spend time with my son and his precious family, visit with friends and support my husband at a work event. We had a very successful launch at work and our CNO is receiving all kinds of praise for the program. I love being a part of that good work and being able to share it with others. As a result of that launch, I walked a lot more than normal. One day I actually went over 5,000 steps! I wish I did that everyday.

But the best part of the week for me was that I made it into the studio every day and completed one of my best works yet. It is also posted below. I am so proud of it and of myself for getting in there and making it happen and getting it done two days before the show entry deadline. Normally, I am stressed out to the max and frantically trying to upload the image at the last minute, which never results in really great work. I am hoping this new habit will continue and that I will safeguard this dedicated time in my studio. This activity makes me feel whole and calms my busy mind and as my husband says, I "go somewhere else". I am going to practice Richardson's (2009) practice of saying no to the things that are not in my best interest when saying no is what is right for me. I also like her idea of creating a soul-loving space. My studio is close to that, but still needs some work so that I can be more organized and have only those supplies that will serve my creativity. Right now it is overflowing with stuff that I may never use or bought and didn't really like as well as I thought I would. It is such a great space, that my loving husband had built for me, that I really love being in there, so getting it organized needs to be a priority. And I think doing so will only help my creative juices get going strong.

So here are the spreadsheet and my painting.

 

The Wild Hawk to the Windswept Sky

Bloom, W. (2001). The Endorphin Effect. London: Piatkus.

Richardson, C. (2012). The Art of Extreme Self-Care. Carlsbard, CA: Hay House.