This space is morphing, and I’m excited about the new content and tone. I am ready to be sharing more about what is helping my family, myself, and my marriage to find health and movement. I’m excited to delve more deeply into body positive fitness, and ways to move your body that are accessible to everyone. I have a some great recipes, a few clothing reviews and tips all coming at your soon. However, to be totally transparent, I’m really struggling with sharing anything right now. Our country is being ripped at its seams, and it’s felt throughout every community I am a part of. I am giving wherever I can (donate here to the ACLU), I am writing my representatives, I am making phone calls, and I am attending marches. I want to share a little today about how to keep moving forward, and caring for yourself, while also caring deeply for our country. I also feel like it is important to acknowledge this scary, hard, important time.
I was falling deep into articles that shake me to my core, allowing myself to weep through the trauma images, and become completely paralyzed. I am an empathetic, highly sensitive person, and was falling face first in. No longer productive, helpful, forward moving, or even parenting well.
Consequently, I’ve pulled back and am doing what I know best. Boundary drawing. If you are feeling chewed up by this awful time, and want to be politically active while still being active in your body and parenting, here are a few tips that I’ve been employing.
First, know where you can find helpful information about Action. I follow a couple of groups through Facebook that post action items daily, and I choose one or more to do every day as I can. I also follow what events I am invited to. But, I am taking a break on reading endless articles. Or scrolling my feed. At this point, I need to only focus on ACTION and some space.
Second, know in what ways you are acting and making positive change in your own life. Allow yourself a little rest in it. For me, I am raising brilliant, loving, inclusive, kids. Ones who will know to challenge authority, ask questions, raise a bit of hell, and know that their rights are ones that should be afforded to everyone. I am having hard (hard) conversations with them daily, and that is activism.
Third, self care. It can feel trite, ridiculous, and wrong. But caring for yourself is what will make you stronger, capable of action, and with it for the long haul (and we need to be engaged and active for the LONG haul). Be that baths, or running. Maybe a great time writing or reading. Know what fills you up, and schedule it in. I’m making my workouts and eating food that doesn’t contribute to anxiety a really big priority. I’m working to make sure I’m as healthy internally as I can so I have more to give without feeling depleted.
Finally, schedule yourself. I encourage you to give this a try even if you aren’t traditionally a schedule person (I’m not!). In what can feel like a never ending hole of terrible and chaos – schedule to find some calm. For example, I schedule in the morning 20 minutes to catch up (I set a timer). News, events I am invited to that could be actionable and helpful, and to jot down the phone numbers and scripts for phone calls (I just save them to my phone). After that time? I. Stop. I back off, and I schedule in time to eat, move my body in the ways I like best (sweaty workouts!), and follow our home-school schedule.
I will be posting here about self, marriage, and family health. I’ll be beginning to wade into the deep and confusing waters of Body Positive Fitness, I’ll be sharing recipes, and tips, yoga experiences, and clothes I am loving. But know that I will also being working hard, listening as much as I can, and staying connected to what action I can take. Following these boundaries is the only way that I am capable of saying engaged. Know yourself, know what you can take in, what you can give, and mostly how you can continue to show up to the conversation and listen. Self work is important work too. And you can’t pour, give, or show up, when you are empty and depleted.
Bonus Item: Get outside! I can’t even begin to convey enough how much getting out of service, away from all of it, and allowing myself to guiltlessly enjoy my family has helped hugely to make me more productive, capable, and stronger as a person and parent.
Do not grow weary. We are strong, and will keep showing up. Play the long game by drawing boundaries, and keeping yourself healthy and strong. We, as a nation, are capable of growth.
Also, as inspired by a friend mine, I will be donating $1 to the ACLU for every mile we run or hike in February. If you’d like to join me, the link to donate is here.
The post How to struggle, give, and still move forward in our political climate. appeared first on Playing House Full Time.