HUM 6930 – The Art of Self-Care

In this next to last week of our course, we are asked to consider how our self-care program supports our professional practice well being and our professional longevity. Carter & Barnett (2014) recognize we are all told to work hard in order to achieve success; however, they also subscribe to the notion that working hard to the exclusion or neglect of other important aspects of our life can actually paradoxically result in less success in our career.

An important part of my self-care program is expressing gratitude. When we look at the Wheel of Wellness, every area is affected by the expression of gratitude. Much of my work is done with senior citizens. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time with them, to acknowledge them and hopefully to inspire them. Working with them helps me improve my feelings in terms of purpose, spirituality, personal growth, relationships and creativity. While this work can be challenging, it is also so rewarding in that I have come to care for my participants and I am also given a window into what it is like to be an older adult. Butler (“Social Worker Self-Care — The Overlooked Core Competency,” n.d.) stresses the importance of not waiting to cultivate mindfulness. I think the insight gained by working with senior adults will help me in my self-care in the long run in that I will have learned so much about the senior health experience and challenges that this will help alert me to my own issues early on because I will be more aware.

Each week I need to bring something new to the workshops that are held for my seniors, so this keeps me searching for new techniques and supplies, and I often must create an example so that puts me in the studio participating in creative endeavors. Because a large part of my self-care plan is to make sure I have more creative time, it seems that my work enables that and that my creative time supports my work. I can’t imagine a time when I would not be doing something creative on a regular basis and I am finding that I am having more creative time lately than ever before. Morriss-Kay (2010) says that creating visual art is one of the defining characteristics of the human species. I think this is very true because making art makes me feel human. The more time I spend practicing my art, the happier I am, and this overflows into other areas of my life. I find that my mental attitude is better on days that I have done something creative.

My objective of getting more exercise will certainly sustain my professional practice and longevity in that I will be stronger and able to stand on my feet as required in my work. I also think the extra exercise will help me sleep better, which in turn will make me more resilient for my days. That is a definite plus because it takes a lot of energy to keep up with those seniors!

Making more time for my family, especially my spouse will provide me with the love and support I need. Having this support will help me persevere when things get tough. The support and encouragement will remind me of all that I have accomplished and help quiet the negative voices on those days when I feel like I am not doing enough.

And creating an environment that is comfortable, clean, safe and happy will provide me with a “welcome home” at the end of the day; a place that I can go to and escape the outside cares of the day. My studio is already such a place and any time spent there fills me with happiness.

I think all of these activities enhance my creative practice because they nourish me and make me feel like everything is going to be okay. Doing these activities also make me feel that I have control over my life and that eliminates a lot of stress. Having less stress makes me feel more like getting in the studio, playing with my things and letting go of needing to be perfect. This is when the really good stuff happens and this is when I am most creative.

Carter, Leigh A., & Barnett, Jeffery E. (2014). Self-Care for Clinicians in Training. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=613582

Morriss-Kay, G. M. (2010). The evolution of human artistic creativity. Journal of Anatomy, 216(2), 158–176. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01160.x

Social Worker Self-Care — The Overlooked Core Competency. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2016, from http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/051214p14.shtml