Self-Care Summer

 A good friend of mine, who is not a teacher, decided that she and I needed to do a self-care summer. She got us coordinating journals and we met one evening to drink beer (we usually drink wine) and decide what #selfcaresummer means for us. She brought the journals and stickers, I brought the colored pens.

We wanted to make sure what we decided to do was actually doable, so that if we slip up we won't throw in the towel entirely. She wanted us to be accountable to each other, and to the wider world - so our steps for accountability are:

• record the self-care actions we take
• debrief with each other at least twice a month
• reflect in writing at least weekly
• share something about our self-care journey with others at least weekly

I am a list maker, and my main goal is to begin to shed the 75 pounds I have gained in the last 4 years. (I hit perimenopause as COVID shut the world down, and as my metabolism returned to normal after being in a constant state of anxiety from fostering kids who needed much more support than I was trained to provide.)

So far, I have been adding to the things to do daily list, but not yet accomplishing the entire list. But my daily to do lists have me clearing little spaces of clutter and making my house a more comfortable place to be. It's only been four days, so there's still hope for accomplishing the entire list one of these days.