Self-Care Thoughts and Letting You Know About a Break

There are so many views on self-care these days. That hyphenated word has become a trendy thing to talk about, and lots of us are talking about it. The views include those who justify all sorts of things as self-care and those who feel that we should always be giving without refilling the stockpile. There are all sorts of things that we consider to be "self-care," and the definition changes from person to person.

I waver between feeling the need for my version of self-care and feeling guilty about taking the time and the money for something viewed as frivolous (in my opinion). I have periods of time when self-care is the only thing that gets me to move in the morning, and other times when I just don't have the time to focus on what I need as a human being. It can be quite frustrating.


As a music therapist, I spend lots of time focusing on the needs of other people. It can be a slippery slope which can lead to feelings of self-importance (what will they do if I am not there?) and guilt (I can't take time off, what will my clients do without me??). The fact of the matter is that clients will do just fine without me - they would rather have a therapist who is able to be therapeutic than one who is having issues with focus and doesn't attend to what the client needs in the moment. In fact, most of my clients don't even realize that I am gone. There are times when my idea of my self-importance becomes greatly inflated, and I lose track of what is the most important thing about any type of therapy - the client.

I am getting ready for a bit of unusual (at least, for me) self-care.

After this Thursday, I am taking a social media vacation. I will not be posting for a couple of weeks.

I have other things to do - things like spending time with my family and trying new things and exploring new places. I am hoping that a self-restriction from blogging will assist me in finding topics that interest me. I am hoping that I will have some time to just sit and be mindful of things around me. So, there will be no blog posts for a period of about two weeks. 

Whoo.

This is the first time that I've taken a deliberate break from social media in several years, and the thought is invigorating. I am ready to take some time away from the ability to be constantly connected to the world. (That's the plan, at least. We'll see how long it takes before I cave into the thrall of social media and start posting things again...)

It's coming! I'm ready.