S is for Self-Care #AtoZChallenge
My 2025 A to Z Challenge theme is activism. I’ve been a Black Lives Matter activist for over a decade. I’m not an expert. I do have experience to share and I’m hoping to learn from your experiences, too. We’re all in this together.
Self-care feels self-indulgent in this moment, but it’s not. Self-care is resistance.
We want to prevent burn-out and discouragement in ourselves and others. Self-care is the only way that we can sustain resistance for an extended period of time. We are engaged in a marathon, not a sprint.
Audre Lorde, the black poet and activist, said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
I learned that quote from Dr. Kira Banks, professor of psychology at St. Louis University. She is currently running a year-long book club on YouTube for A Year of Self-Love Journal. The weekly prompts and her videos are short – so it’s not too late to catch up if you want to use this resource to practice self-care.
We win when we don’t let others steal our delight or our determination. Authoritarians expect compliance. When we take care of ourselves and each other so that we’re strong enough to resist, we are doing the work. Authoritarians don’t have a Plan B for when the population doesn’t comply.
So, if you need permission spend time and energy to prepare healthy foods and do your workouts and get your seven to eight hours of sleep, here it is. With the powers vested in me as an A to Z Challenge blogger, I officially give each of you permission to take care of yourself because we need you at your most resilient.
Yes, we have to take care of ourselves and those around us.
I think authoritarians do have a plan B.
Seven or eight hours of sleep is a thing of the past. Seems I get or even need less sleep the older I get.But self care is important, I agree, all through the years. Have a good week.
My bestie is 95 and a half and has been a great model for me.
As I get older, I get better at self-care. Or maybe life becomes more conducive to it. Either way, it’s necessary.
I’m totally in agreement with you, Joy. Self-care is essential, and especially critical in these times. Lorde certainly knew what she was speaking about!
Great post. If we are not at our best, we cannot do our best for others.
Yes self-care is very important
That sleep part is hard when I’m stressed, but so essential to keeping up hte ability to fight. @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
I love the idea of this journal!
Exactly this: “We win when we don’t let others steal our delight or our determination.”
The older I get, the more insistent I am about taking care of me so I *can take care of others. It’s such a practice!
Thanks, Joy. Yes.