(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Self Care during House of Horrors era [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-22 There is a place called Pie Town in New Mexico. Self care is eating those pies. With the privilege of living in a democracy comes the responsibility of being a citizen. Being a citizen can be so taxing sometimes. Smile. Sigh. What to do? Keep up the Resistance to the republican led anti-democracy movement occurring in our country? Yes. We must. Witnessing the absurdity and horror of such is stressful enough, getting in the trenches in whatever way we do magnifies our discomfort and adds to the mental, emotional, even physical stress. Experiencing shadow & light, clouds & clarity The very fact that seditionists, who were part of a violent attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, are now in positions of power in the House of Representatives is enough to cause one’s brain to explode and heart to shatter. Even if sedition were not the case; these folks do not possess an understanding of US civics and a decent sense of humanity to qualify for such responsibilities. Authoritarian mindset, gun fetishists, anti-life, anti-education, religious fundamentalists, fearful folks with no curiosity of anything beyond their own little place on Earth, afraid of and thus hating anything not like them and theirs - these are descriptors which come to mind. They always need scapegoats - fav strategy of the republican party. I experience this personally as I belong to one of their fav scapegoat groups. It worked for them in every election for so many years until … it didn’t. It appeared the majority in society had evolved beyond that particular discrimination. I was never convinced about the depth of that evolution, but still it was amazing and heartwarming. The Republican response seems to be to get even more hateful and violent. Oh noes, is my blood pressure starting to rise? Sigh. What to do? It takes courage to be part of the resistance. Thank you. Thank you everyone who does in whatever way you do. So many turn away as a general rule because it’s unpleasant. But so many just can’t pay attention because they are trying with every ounce of energy to survive. So many are just burnt out. Just stop and rest a while to recharge We need to remember self care. Not just the physical health aspect of self care, but the care of Self in every way. We need to find the joy in being alive, on the earth at this time, and follow those joy moments … while at the same time we fight back for the right to do so! This is a challenging path. It calls for an open heart strong enough to experience the joy of life and also be open to witness and respond to the pain of life. We also need to honor and tend to our pain moments. Repression of such only makes it worse. It’s ok to be angry. It’s ok to cry. It’s ok to FEEL. Let the emotions move through. We need to do our best to express such emotions without flinging them at others. This is important and I have failed in this many times since 2017 much to my regret now. I was in such pain. A big failure on my part, which I have been processing and now am trying to be gentle with myself for that time. But it’s still also important to allow those emotions, we just need to find a way to let them out without affecting others. Pounding a pillow, screaming in private or something similar which allows the emotions out. I found Wii boxing could be quite useful for releasing anger. What is Self Care? Emphasis on SELF - that’s you. Look in a mirror - hello self. I’d like to get to know you. How ya doing? Do you need anything? What would you like to do? Or do you want to do nothing? Yes! Stop and be with the tiny flowers. Blue Star Grasses. Relax and listen to music? Walk in the woods? Cuddle in bed? Laughing? Walkies & playing with animal friends? Massage? Holding hands? Read a book? Play a guitar? Sing your soul song? Build something? Watch a movie? Gardening? Drumming? Making love? What would be fun? What could you get lost in? What would feed your body/mind and spirit? Part of this is the very act of giving value to the idea of caring for self. Our society tends to look upon such with suspicion, so we need reminders that self care is a natural part of being alive. I’ve witnessed squirrels doing it, joyfully watched deer doing it, so … ya know, it’s natural. Embrace the down time and nurturance of self without guilt or shame. Tools for healing sounds Self care for me? Spending time with Nature every day. Even if that is my yard - nature is everywhere and I connect with the Web of Life everyday in some way. I often take photos while with Nature and that is a wonderful thang. In addition, what became key and really saved me was self expression with music, video and photography. Beginning in 2017, I began playing music every day. Making it up. Improvising. Playing guitar, drums, singing and even playing a bathroom sink, pots & pans and a cardboard paper towel roll. After a while, I committed to doing this every day, making a video and posting on Instagram. Did every day for about 5 months. It was transformative! It changed my life. I’ve continued doing such since, but not posting every day. There are well over 500 improvs posted now. I am a ‘creative’, a musician and visual artist - however, this experience of self care is not about that. It is about using sound to express what’s inside and let it flow. It’s not about making great music, although sometimes one does, rather it’s an expansion of what music means and intersects with the idea of sound healing. The video part also became very creative and a type of performance/video artform, created with social media as the canvas. Improvisation, making it up - expression of self. Everyone can do this and actually has a need to express themself in some way. It is a human experience and a human right. What do you do for self care and self expression? Let’s share our ideas in comments. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/22/2154385/-Self-Care-during-House-of-Horrors-era Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/