I’ve felt less inspired to write lately, and more inclined toward the practice of slow stitching (which is apparently what we’re calling hand stitching now). I’m alright at it, but it’s more about the process itself, which I suppose could be seen as a mindfulness practice in a way. I have a sewing machine as well, which would obviously make creating fabric projects go much quicker. The machine needs a servicing, however, as it isn’t working properly. It’s one of the too many items on my to-do list I currently don’t have the extra spoons for.
Speaking of spoons, over the last year or so I’ve taken to tricking myself into doing boring self-care tasks. When I’m struggling to shower, I’ll go into the bathroom, place everything I’ll need in the place I’ll need it (fresh pyjamas on the counter, the soaps and shampoos I’ll use within easy reach, nice clean towel laid out so I can quickly grab it after I turn the tap off and have to content with the unavoidable blast of cold air after exiting the shower). Then, and this is the trick, I put my phone on the counter and set a timer. How long depends on a bunch of factors. Sometimes it’s 5 minutes and sometimes it’s 2 hours. The point being, when the timer goes off, I am forced to make my way back into the bathroom to turn the timer off. Then, since I’m already in the bathroom, the only remaining hurdle is to actually have the shower. Through trial and error, I’ve learned the trick for this last step is to turn the tap on before I shut off my phone timer.
(I sometimes feel like these introspective ramblings on paper are a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, I have several paths I could take from here … a musing about how it often seems our ancestors who lived in times without electricity or even without constant connectivity unknowingly lived more mindfully than we do now …. Or, I could go on about the ways the concept of self-care itself seems to have been morphed (mainly by social media) into this idea of pilates/yoga classes, brunch with friends, and just a treat-yourself vibe in general, when in reality it’s more likely the boring self-care no one wants to take about that people really need to focus on. )
So, yeah, maybe let’s talk about boring self-care. Here’s what mine has looked like lately*:
- Going to bed at a reasonable hour
- Unloading just the top rack of the dishwasher each morning
- Remembering to eat, and to drink water
- Paying for a housecleaner to come help with bigger cleaning tasks that use up multiple spoons **
- Giving myself permission to rest
If you’ve managed to read this far, leave me a comment with one boring self-care task your currently working on.
*Looks like ≠ doing it. I struggle with some of these, especially giving myself permission to rest.
** I do this because I am currently able to financially afford it. I recognize this is a privilege (although I would argue that for many disabled people, me included, this should be seen as an accommodation. Maybe I’ll write an argument about that at some point.)
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