Retrospective Lily

It’s crazy how time flies.

I was honestly taken aback to see that I haven’t shared a blog post in one month!

It can be difficult to set aside time for things we love, like writing or drawing or playing an instrument or hiking or fishing – whatever floats your boat. Even today, I made a deliberate choice to move other tasks down my priority list and move this – expressing myself creatively – to the top.

There’s a lot of talk about “self-care” these days, and I’m all for it.

But, often, the concept of self-care is reduced to a superficial, consumption-driven idea of “living your best life.” We are relentlessly inundated with ads to buy products that aren’t as satisfying as we expected. We are promised a new car or a new skincare line or a new purse will change our lives for the better.

And, hey, stuff is pretty awesome! It’s still just “stuff.” [Also worth noting: we all enjoy pampering sometimes. I, for one, love my hair stylist and my nail tech. But pampering is not essential to my happiness. Being able to access/afford those services is a massive privilege.]

Self-care literally means taking care of yourself. Maybe it’s silly of me to clarify that – but maybe we need to be reminded of it. Maybe we need to consider what actually feeds our minds and bodies.

Exercise, writing, going on walks, being at church, and being surrounded by healthy houseplants are just a few activities and environments that “feed” me. What about you? [Emphasis on healthy because dying plants are a downer, lol.]

This Thanksgiving, on the official holiday of overindulgence, we’ll stuff our faces with turkey, ham, dressing, cranberry sauce, mac ‘n cheese, green beans, deviled eggs, rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, you name it.

Many of us will also carry on the tradition of counting our blessings. I know I have an endless supply of them. But, perhaps for the first time, we could ask ourselves if we feed our souls like we feed our bodies.