The Buzz That Is Self-care Is A Beautiful Thing

The self-care buzz is a beautiful thing.

I remember the first time I heard the term self-care. The year was 1992 and I was watching Oprah. She was chatting with a guest named Cheryl Richardson. During the conversation, Cheryl told Oprah that women should put themselves first on their to-do list. Some women in the audience looked mortified. I remember thinking, what on earth is she talking about -yourself first – what about your children? But once she explained, I understood. I went on about my twenty-year old business and I did not give much thought to the term after that.

That term came back and began haunting me around 38 years old, and at 40 it dawned on me that I needed to focus much of my attention on myself. It’s fair to say that self-care did not come naturally to me because the beautiful women in my family weren’t privy to that term, much less the actions it requires. It took going back to that conversation that Cheryl Richard had with Oprah among other things for me to get clear. Once I became aware that I needed to practice intentional self-care, I accepted it and was able to take action. It’s the triple-A effect. Awareness. Acceptance. Action.

What’s disappointing to me, however, is that there are people who go around trivializing the term because it’s become popular. I’ve heard some women say things like, “the term self-care is so common now”, “it’s become too buzzy”, “I’m tired of it ‘cause it’s so trendy”, “I don’t even use it anymore because so many people are using it.” Seriously?

We’ve been given this gift of awareness; awareness of a term (self-care) that can have a significant, positive impact on our wellbeing. Why would anyone want to denounce it because it’s no longer exclusive and has moved beyond the in-crowd? The beauty of what’s happened with the term-self care is the trickle effect. It’s going where it’s supposed to go; to the masses, to people who need it, to people who want it, to people who want to learn how to practice it, to people who’ve never heard of it. That’s cause for celebration as far as I’m concerned.

I’m certain that when Cheryl Richardson spoke on Oprah and when she wrote her books about self-care it was not to keep to herself. It was to share with the world. Shouldn’t we be ecstatic that women are embracing the term and what it signifies? For crying out loud, women have been needing this for a long, long time. Our female ancestors needed it. But we’ve got it. We can gift it to our children and them, their children. Consider what that can do for future generations.

Hence, if the term is treated as a trend, and it goes out of style, know that it’s your children and the future generations who will suffer the consequences. Remember, our beautiful female ancestors suffered because they were taught to do for everyone else and leave themselves undone. We’ve been blessed to have this term brought into lives, we’d do very well to ensure it remains there.

All schools should incorporate self-care into their curriculum to teach children its value. It’s how we will create and maintain mindset changes for the future generations.

What are your thoughts about Self-care?