Is Self-Care a bunch of bullsh*t?

I am so damn tired of hearing about self care and the misuse of it (and self love but i’ll be talking about that later). Self care, if mis-handled can cause you more harm than good…. Wait a minute… before you click off or leave me a mean troll comment just read further.

Self care is great if used properly or correctly. I am by no way the self care police but I have my concerns

-Some people sabotage their progress in the name of self care

-Some people believe a singular activity of self care will change everything

-Some people don’t know what self care really is

Let’s break this down

Sabotage in the name of self care- Self care leads people to believe they can leave their responsibilities and or goals uncompleted because they are doing self care. No my friend, you still have to be an adult you cannot leave your priorities undone for a self care rendezvous. Self care is to help you manage through your feelings and emotions. Self care should not leave you feeling like you just gave up something important all for self care.

Take away- Don’t let self care be the reason you forget to take care of business (aka adulting)

Self care activities will fix all- A bubble bath , massage, brunch with friends or spa day may be a great self care activity that makes you feel relaxed and calm. BUT after the self care activity is over you are still required to complete or face the daily tasks that probably lead you to need a self care activity in the first place. If you promised little johnny/kiara you would take them to the park, a report is due at work or you need to prepare for visiting for the holidays, news flash you still have to get it done and a bubble bath or brunch does not change this. Self care does not mean those things are fixed, you still have to do but self care activity before you do a task makes it easier to get things done.

Take away- Self care does not fix all it prepares you to complete or get through

What is self care anyway? Self care is about learning your best ways to manage stress, find you best coping mechanism for yourself and designing your best life. Most people believe that self care is just some hashtag on instagram #selfcare or a mimosa during a bubble bath or a trip to bali while you are neck deep in debt, which it is not. Self care should be approached from a whole person approach because if one area of your life is making you stressed out it will trickle into other areas of your life causing you to need more self care and this is a non-breaking cycle.

Take away- Find your best version of self care because it looks different for all of us.

Remember self care is now a $10 billion industry. There will be a propaganda that will encourage you that you must spend to successfully attain self care but my belief is that best self care activities are actually free or low cost

-Cooking

-Walking

-Running

-Writing

-Reading

Now it’s your turn. How do you do self care?

Helpful Self care articles

Is Self-Care Just a Trend? | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-mentality/201901/is-self-care-just-trend

The Dark Truths Behind Our Obsession With Self-Care – VICE

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmdwm4/the-young-and-the-uncared-for-v25n4

The Millennial Obsession With Self-Care :https://www.npr.org/2017/06/04/531051473/the-millennial-obsession-with-self-care