It’s so easy as a woman to put ourselves at the bottom of the list, and the biggest narrative that would allow me to do this was that I was being “selfish” “How dare I spend time doing what I love when there’s so much more to be done” I’ve grown up in a family where the work ethic is strong, all self employed and understanding that to get anywhere you need to work hard, I witnessed work being placed ahead of play and that became my narrative Even so much that I’d find myself justifying “hobbies” by how they would help me with my work and if I couldn’t do that then I would do them The weird thing is that now I’m a mother I really truly understand how important self care is, as even in this short time of being a mother I notice how different I am able to cope when I do give myself time to do the things I love That list involves yoga, walking, spending time with my animals and reading It’s so easy for me to push these down the list but my daily task is to fit them in, even if it’s ten minutes of each with Olive in a sling After a night of no sleep it’s easy to say I’ll stay in, but I know by the end of the day I’ll feel even worse, sleep badly and the cycle continues So my mantra currently is “it’s not selfish, it’s selfcare” When you think of the things you love as self care, how does that make you feel about doing them?