;['pppppppppppppppppp - Guest Post by the Cat, Apparently

My ever vigilant "assistant" (?), Bella!

My cat, Bella, tends to walk over the keyboard when she is finished sitting between me and the screen. She usually hits the same key over and over again with all of her feet for some reason, and today's post title is courtesy of her urge to nibble on her kibble after keeping me from writing anything at all. She does a good job of keeping me from doing things that I want to do - she plops herself down in the center of any project and then smiles at me. Ah, cats.

One of the good things about sharing my life with Bella-cat is that she reminds me that there are many ways to go through this lifetime. I could just keep my head down and rush from place to place and thing to thing, or I could spend some of my time in the sunshine, watching the birds outside the window.

There is a post on Music Therapists Unite right now about work-life balance. I admit that I am currently struggling with my ability to separate between those two things, but I usually can find a pretty good balance. My brain starts to indicate the imbalance through things like anxiety dreams - I am having some doozies these days, for some reason - and my healthy habits start to fade. Once I realize these things, I usually can find balance again, but it takes me some time to recognize the symptoms in me (even though I do this over and over again).

My cat is one of the ways that I divide my day into work things and not-work things. Bella is a champion purr master, and my favorite thing to do when I get home is to bury my nose in her fur and experience that purr. She has a special one for when I've been gone for a time - it rumbles in about five different ways, all simultaneous rumbles - and I can feel my stressors fading to a different part of my brain when I concentrate on her. Her purr helps me put the work day behind me.

Another ritual that I have involves my watch.

I do not wear a watch here at home. I have no need for one as there are clocks all around me. I wear my watch at work, and I store my watch in one of the cup holders in my car. It rarely comes into my home. It just sits out there, waiting for work to start. I have a long commute (on purpose), and I put on my watch when my brain reminds me. There are days when I do not really feel all that ready for work, and I forget that I need my watch. Other days, I put it on as soon as I get into the car. Most of the time, my watch is on my wrist by the middle of my commute - I usually remember it by the time that I have to switch highways. When the day is over, the first thing I do is put my watch into the cup holder. It signals that my work day is over.

In moments like these, however, having a routine and a ritual does not help me completely. Those routines are my daily practices, but when things start to overwhelm me, I have to add to my daily efforts and do more.

Now, just so you know, I am not in any type of danger of burning out of my job or experiencing compassion fatigue. One of the reasons that I write about my self-care practices is to help me combat those situations before they become crises. I am, though, having anxiety dreams that are centered around specific situations at work, so it is time to do more.

Here's my recipe for self-care. Feel free to make it your own as needed - substitutions and changed quantities are encouraged.

• Allowing myself to sleep
• Making something just for fun
• Finding a problem or quandary or puzzle to solve
• Journaling - bullet, reflexive, reflective, you name it! I love journaling in a ll sorts of forms!
• Reading something just for fun
• Avoiding things that are dark (I've started a book that I'm not sure I am going to finish at this time - it's a bit morbid. I am also going to avoid mystery shows on television - they are not conducive to my thinking process at this time)
• Snuggling with the kitty
• Finding the sunshine - enjoying sunrises, sunsets, and the sun

I also have to do things like making sure that I am hydrating and eating healthy foods. Exercise doesn't always play a role in my life, but I am going to work on making that a habit.

I am feeling like there aren't just enough hours in the day to do what I feel I need to do - that means that I will look at what I feel I need to do - I probably don't need to do as much as I think. There are things that can be released. The trick is to release them before they weigh you down!

I'm going to take my shower and finish up my morning routine. It is time to get ready for the home to work transformation. What gets done, gets done. What doesn't get done, doesn't get done.

Take care of your self today.