Self-Care is a Means of Survival
You’ve had those days. Nothing was done at work. You were on the clock but your heart wasn’t in it. You spent more time watching cat videos than showing up fully for what you “need” to do.
--
If you’re a perfectionist like me, days like that scare you. They make you feel like a bad employee, with a bad work ethic, and a bad attitude, and someone that everyone hates, and the weakest link therefore a bad person. You go into a spiral about needing to do better than the best and stealing company time.
The truth is. Who gives a shit?
Honestly, who does? Let’s break it down past the feel-good guru speech about how you are worthy no matter what. (Which is hella true but you already know that big homie. You are love you are light you are a divine being you are not your job yeah.)
Let’s break it down to the nitty-gritty:
We are still in a pandemic. We are in a double pandemic. And the government could not care any less about our well-being. I know folks with clients with monkeypox who are canceling on them asking me why their organization still is insisting on in-person visits. Gas prices are through the roof, and climate change is eradicating the planet.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey (Bezos) is getting richer and Musky (Elon) is bathing in money. While our neighbors are buying Teslas and doing Instacart to pay the car note.
Hard work is dead. As your government doesn’t work for you, don’t work for them. Work for yourself. If it’s a slow day, damn it take it slower. If you have vacation time take it. Don’t watch it build up and look at that time with pride that is egotistical and psychologically irresponsible to not take time off in these times. It is stupid to do that in a time of “thriving” but the world is exploding and you are doing hard reps on life? No one is impressed. Everyone is concerned.
I started my new job and instantly my coworkers were like “sis take it easy.” I came in hot from a culture of overwork and talking about self-care without taking care of one’s self. We prided ourselves on going hard for our folks and taking no breaks and taking no moments to breathe.