Do You Need A Care Package?
The grocery store from which I get weekly delivery stopped stocking my favorite tea.
For the past several weeks, I have been opening the tea drawer in my office desk, glumly surveying the choices, and making some other tea. To be straight with you, especially you fancy tea people, it’s an embarrassing dessert-flavored tea that I like, but it is mine.
it is often the case that we overlook simple ways to take care of ourselves and the result is a kind of casual, even cruel, indifference to our own wellbeing
I am often skeptical of the promotion of #selfcare, especially by employers, as a balm for woes that might better be solved by higher wages, reduced working hours, or more equitable practices. However, as my ridiculous tea problem shows, it is also often the case that we overlook simple ways to take care of ourselves and the result is a kind of casual, even cruel, indifference to our own wellbeing. Who cares about the lemon loaf tea, let her drink Bigelow!
This indifference can be particularly insidious when we are busy. In fact, it is often at the moments I am most busy and in need of support that I neglect feeling good.
There’s a striking difference between the way we might treat others in such moments, especially if you are a person who takes on traditionally feminized care labor in your family or workplace and sends the flowers when others have something to celebrate or brings the soup when someone is ill.
In my own little world, it’s gotten quite busy lately. We’re at the end of term, my young daughters remain young, and I’m developing my side business in higher ed coaching. If there were ever a time that I should be drinking the tea that makes me happy, it would be now.
As a coach, I’ve been thinking a lot about what clients need to pursue their projects, and the care package seems like a nice, concrete way to tap into needs. For example, I am sending a lot of energy outward at the moment: to students, to clients, to my kids and other family members. In thinking about this post, I went ahead and assembled a care package that includes items that help my turn inward through a focus on sensory experience: a candle, scented hand cream, my tea.
On the other hand, I could imagine that if someone has come through a heavy, lonely period, a care package might include things that feel energizing, or funny: a comedian’s book, a nostalgic candy, or a panda bear face mask.
In addition to providing a treat during challenging times, assembling a care package might also be a way to tap into feelings and needs: what would a good care package look like for you now? What does this say about the things you are going through? Your emotional and energetic needs at the moment?
What will you be sending yourself?
