Writing As An Act Of Self Care

Taking The Time To Write Is Taking Time For You. Thoughts Of A Caregiver.

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday. A lesson that I needed to learn for me and me alone. No, I didn’t split the atom or discover a cure for some dreadful disease. Nor did I have a screaming hissy fit and shut myself in the bedroom for the rest of the day.

I didn't write a damn thing. Life got in the way. And it got in the way of me writing down something. People around me want, want, want. They wanted all day. Taking them somewhere, picking them up, cooking, drinks, want, want bloody want. And all I wanted to do was write something down.

And a lesson came out of this. It’s lovely being on here, having followers, people responding, and clapping for your articles. Reading round what other writers have to say and enjoying their words. My “saved to Reading List” is stuffed full. But what shone out of yesterday was that for me writing is an act of self-care, time for me, and the opportunity to get it all out. On the screen and into words.

I suspect that for many people keeping a journal is a life-saver. If there is nobody to let your feelings out to then a journal is a damned good listener. A worry shared is a worry halved. Share your worry with your journal and things look very different on paper and hopefully, that worry or awful thought has lost some of its ferocity.

Some may say that Self-Care is selfish. I don’t think it is. If you can’t care for yourself then how the hell are you going to care for those around you. A frazzled mother does not a happy baby make. A snapped answer to a question can set the scene for argument and colour the rest of the day.

So from today, I’m going to be practising a bit more self-care and taking a bit more time for myself. There is no doubt many of us here are juggling families, jobs, caregiving, and writing and it’s not always easy keeping all those balls in the air. I’m not going to even try to keep all those balls in the air anymore. I’m going to throw one ball at a time and then catch it and then move onto the next one. Quieten down the noise in my mind and calm things down.

So to all of you on here juggling this and that, being here and there, doing this job and that job. Slow it down and just be.

Caring for yourself enables you to better care for others. And that can only result in making everyone happy and that includes you. Because you are as important as those that you care for.

And throw one ball at a time which you will catch. Don’t throw all three and let them fall.