10 Simple Self-Care Routines to Make it Through The Year
/A Long Road to……Something?
I’ve started marking the passage of time with my little Sunday through Saturday pill box. It holds a few meds and supplements and is basically the only way I know if I remembered to take them. But lately, each week when I open the Thursday slot, all I can think is “Shit. Another week almost over, and it was just like last week.” Nothing happened. Nothing much to look forward to.
Like many, the pandemic has put my life on pause. It’s paused goals, plans, travel, and most things I usually look forward to. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s this creeping, yet stark, feeling that seems to call my entire existence into question. I can’t tell if something happened last week or 3 months ago. It’s like Ground Hog Day on steroids. So no, I have no idea where the year has gone.
As the World Turns
When the pandemic began, it was still winter in Colorado. During our state’s lockdown, I watched the snow melt, and brown slowly turn to green. As it moved into summer, we were hammered with record setting highs. Now, with fall in full swing, the leaves are tipping to reds and golds. Holiday decorations are going up. And yet, every week still feels the same.
Soon it will be brown again and snow will begin to fall, at least for me. Outdoor visits will become difficult to impossible. The earth will continue to turn on its axis, as one day quickly leads to the next.
10 Simple Self-Care Routines to Make it Through 2020
I don’t have a crystal ball into when the pandemic might end, or how to make the passage of time be more meaningful, but I’m looking into it. In the meantime, I keep looking for simple self-care routines to improve my week, or someone else’s. I at least hope they help me remember what day it is.
1. Talk to friends and family, don’t just text. Voice calls, zoom calls, Facetime. Whatever you have.
2. Leave the house. You don’t have to be with people. Just driving around can remind us there’s still a whole world out there.
3. Send physical letters or cards. Yes, it’s a throwback, but wouldn’t it brighten someone’s day to receive a personal note?
4. Put up holiday decorations. Even if you’re a household of one, embodying a little holiday spirit might lift your own.
5. Redecorate. It might just be a new bedspread, or a picture. New coffee mugs count.
6. Read a good book. Or even a bad one.
7. Don’t focus on your waistline! Now is not the time to put extra stress on yourself.
8. Have that glass of wine or yummy cocktail. Who’s counting? No one, that’s who.
9. Make your own spa day: a face or foot mask, a bath bomb, incense, yoga. Maybe followed by Netfilx under a cozy throw.
10. Light a candle to keep out the darkness. Then make a wish.
What are some of your favorite ways to release the insanity?