When I came home from the hospital with my first baby, Camilla, I rested for a bit, then hopped right back into my type A shoes and rush forth for a busy three months of holiday shipping in the retail industry. See these pictures? The pack'n'play IN MY STUDIO. Permanent baby strapped to my chest. It worked. I was happy and I felt good. Still, I don't want to repeat it this time. I want slower time, I want down time, quiet time, bonding time. And it's up to me to carve that out.
Really, what that means, is it is always up to each and every one of us to carve out our own DOWN TIME. No one will force us to care for ourselves. And for the self employed, and the type A's, and the working moms - well, let's just say this might not be our number one skill by nature, we have to work to nurture it. There are a lot of pieces to the self care puzzle. But today I am going to pick ONE concrete area where I can do a little practical work to pave the way of self care for the next few months:
Cleaning up a few little special "me" spaces to promote EASE and INSPIRATION.
- I like a clean desk. So when I move into my workspace, only work awaits me and I can jump right in. If there is clutter in my work space I find working is harder. Wait a second - aren't we talking about self care. Darn work, always sneaking in :) But in truth, work is a part of our self, so any care we take there nurtures us as well. Go, clean your desk.
- Clean thing number two. I am on a roll here! Another thing I like to have de-cluttered is my bedside table. With a house full of dogs and kids and projects I just want to see something clear and relaxing and inspiring when I first awake. Right now, it's not looking so good. My draw has become a catch all, there are cords and wires all tangled, a bunch of used tissues, and not ONE item of inspiration. Okay, this is it. I've got to move on this one today and get my morning shrine on. I am thinking: Clean it up! Add art, a quote or two for inspiration, a nice coaster for my water glass, a drawer separator, small journal with a nice pen, a good book (quotes maybe), a new Chapstick. What else?
Here are a few shots form my desk area that make me smile:
