Hi

I'm starting to send out a newsletter tied in to our MAPS sessions but mostly aimed at people who don't come to raise interest. It's included below.

But to you that do come, the next MAPS is next Monday 12 September at 7.30 pm. Please let me know if you're coming and we'll get into the subject below in a bit more depth.

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What does self-care mean to you?

Is it on autopilot or something you relish giving attention to? What problems do you encounter in your day to day self-care routines? I'm asking because I wan't to make the interventions in Day Crafting fit the kinds of problems we all encounter – and I'm starting to write the Self-care Workbook this week.

I don't think self-care is the same as wellbeing, happiness or mental health. Self-care, for me, has an emphasis on proactive action whereas the others could be passive measurements or metrics. Self-care is part of the all-important process of Day Crafting, wellbeing might be one of the products it helps make.

I'm thinking this through and perhaps you can help by giving me your thoughts. Do you ignore self-care and if so why? Do you consider self-care as a remedial activity; something you do when you need to – or is it something you invest in as a preventative measure?

• Imagine the three wisest most caring people you know, what self-care activities would they recommend for you?
• What would self-care look like if you didn't have to consider the cost or any accusation of selfishness?
• How different would your current and your 8 year old self prescription for self-care be?

I was thinking of these questions this morning (and I regularly turn to the wisdom(?) / opinion of my 8 year old self). He would have thought self-care was a bit odd and would have been suspicious that a bath was about to be suggested. When I was 8 I spent the summer shoeless, getting dirty, roaming the countryside, neglecting food and barely skirting peril. I would have invested an amusing (to me now) amount of time developing my psychic abilities to see through playing cards based on a short story about Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl. I was never successful at the latter.

I'd like to think that self-care was more than the fairly bland basics and put some ideas into a workbook that are a bit more engaging. Again, please let me know your problems / solutions on the subject.

By the way, this is what we'll be exploring at the next MAPS on Monday 12 Sep. Click below for more info if you want to be on the MAPS list.

MAPS



Yours,

Bruce

(PS. I really like long and luxurious baths now. My 8 year old self is more than a little perplexed.)