Our resident Artist is dabbling with a fluorescent palette this morning, producing surreal first light. Clicking at least 1,000 snaps on my iPhone, I hope I’ve captured some of the Artist’s drama. I’m convinced no one has ever seen a sunrise like this! Higher up the hill, drama winding down and colors fading, everything becomes still – Life’s fresh fragrance wafting all around. I’m suddenly aware of the inexplicableness of life and I am humbled. I notice deep in my core, a Sustenance. Unexpectedly, all seems perfect in this seemingly imperfect world and I detect a rare-felt sense of contentment.
The morning’s ambiance brings to mind the poet, Nayyirah Waheed and two specific quotes from her writings:
Be softer with you. You are a breathing thing. A memory to someone. A home to a life.
And I said to my body, softly, “I want to be your friend.” It took a long breath and replied, “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”
I reflect on the morning’s first light and wonder, was the Artist trying to convey the very same message? Not too long ago a young, curious client asked what I meant by self-care. I didn’t have a pat answer, but I do know that over the years I have had to learn what self-care means for me and it took a long time to figure it out. To be honest, after a life of not providing anything beyond rudimentary self-care, it’s something that I’m still learning as I go, but I’m getting better at it. The client’s question made me examine what self-care might entail for others in general and I think there are many components to it: whole living, living with a purpose, paying attention to intention, and what the heck is my intention in the first place? Self-care might include what is necessary to live with a modicum of grace.
But like the quotes by Waheed reflect, being soft with self and having an embracing compassion for self is fundamental. While your personal self-care regimen may not necessarily include the trail, I encourage you to find a regimen that embraces the opportunity for pause, a moment to contemplate, space to regroup – one that might impart wisdom and remind of life’s possibilities – perhaps even something as quiet as sitting on your porch and contemplating the sunrise.
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