Practising self care today.

Well, what I’m actually doing is a few little things, mainly chores to be honest, that just need doing. Which I’m terming self care because that makes it feel more like an insta-worthy lifestyle choice than just a few chores. And technically it is self care, because no one else cares about whether all the washing gets done today, or the back garden gets swept, or my car seat gets cleaned after I’ve sat on it with wet mud all over the back of my trousers. No one else cares whether I treat myself to a cheeky hot chocolate while I wait for it to be cleaned, either.

I’ve noticed a lot of people posting pictures of themselves practising self care by lying in a candlelit bath strewn with rose petals. Or swaddled in a seasonally appropriate style like a giant baby Jesus in a pile of fleecy blankets while they watch a couple of Netflix series back to back. These things are not self care to me. They are actual torture. The idea of lying in my own dirty water while it gets gradually colder and colder, with what are effectively some dead bits of plant constantly bobbing around me and not being able to see properly to fish them out… yeah, not really for me. Spending a whole day lying down in between spending two whole nights lying down and doing basically nothing… similarly. Just feels a bit of a waste of a perfectly good day. I could be out doing stuff. Enjoying myself. Sweeping or something. Doing things I care about, even if no one else does.

I guess that’s the point. Caring for yourself has to mean doing stuff you care about, surely. Being kind to yourself. So giving yourself permission to stop, slow down, do nothing… all those things everyone seems to be so keen to encourage everyone else to feel ok about… great if that’s your thing. For me, though, thanks, but no thanks. I’m giving myself permission to carry on racing around doing small and pretty meaningless tasks as if my life depends on it.

I can always post a photo of me sweeping the back garden as an example of how on top of my self care I am. Plenty of petals and other random debris strewn around me there.