SELF-CARE FOR TROUBLED TIMES

Before we get started: This post was originally shared with my email community in March 2020.

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on the global pandemic we’re all facing right now. l shared some thoughts with my community of subscribers and thought I’d share them here too. If you’d like to join our community, you can sign up below. You’ll also receive two free photography e-books: Simple Snaps & Looking for Light.

I’ve written about three different versions of my letter this week. Every day the updates have changed and we’ve all struggled to keep up. Oh my. What a time. I hope you're doing ok. 

There’s not much any of us can say right now to address all worries. There's a strangeness to this unifying experience with it each affecting us so differently. Our current realities are so varied and complex it’d be arrogant of me to attempt to pacify and say “don’t worry, it’ll be ok”.

Because in all honesty, sometimes things do get worse before they get better. And I’m continued to be humbled by life, which this week has sent us all a big fat reminder, that there is no control, and there never really was.

In my lived experience, I've learned that telling you not to worry, that "everything will be ok", might only make you feel worse. "Chin up" and "solidier on" does little more than quash and reduce our very valid pain into the smallest places within ourselves. It festers and seeps into our vital organs, with nowhere else for it to go. 

Sometimes resilience isn’t immediately possible. It often takes time, perspective and a safe distance to build that muscle. It takes looking after yourself. So if you’re scared right not and aren’t sure what to do, put on your own oxygen mask first.

In times of trouble I find it helps to go to ground zero. To scale things right back to the smallest walls around your home and mentally let go of anything you don’t absolutely need. To stop taking on the weight of the world and focus on what’s right in front of you. Think small picture.

When letting go of the non-essential, one thing I hope you’ll keep a tight grip on is the time you take to centre yourself. Every day. During periods of great uncertainty, I find it helps to get quiet with my soul and find out what it needs. To take a moment to be still and listen.

Whatever it is that helps, whether it’s writing, reading, meditating, cooking, singing, taking photos, or maybe even just a hot cup of tea, I try to put it somewhere high on my to-do list. And I hope you'll join me in doing the same, even if you're having to be all-the-things for a while. Because you can’t be all-the-things if you’re coming unstuck.

If we don’t take care of ourselves, how can we possibly take care of anyone else?

And to those suddenly facing the prospect of kids at home and worrying about the learning, please don’t. The endless ideas created by people who want to help are wonderful. It’s truly heart-warming to look online and see so many reaching into their skill sets to share expertise & experience for free. But maybe you haven’t got the headspace for that right now. Maybe you're just not ready to hit the ground running on Monday. And that’s ok.

Also, let’s not forget the creative possibilities and learning that arises from letting our children explore the boundaries of their boredom. It’s fertile ground for the imaginations of fire-breathing dragons and twinkle-toed ballerinas.

We’re all just going to have to make this up as we go along for a little while. And the only true and certain thing is you, so please look after that.

"The opposite of fear is not courage, the opposite of fear is compassion." Elizabeth Gilbert

S x