“Woo hoo!” said my brain recently, when I had the pleasure of teaching my “Healing the Healer” workshop to 2015 Color of Woman graduates.
I was lit up introducing the session to women dedicated to bringing the work of Intentional Creativity– in their own, unique ways –to people all over the world.
It also reminded me that we all –me too!–must implement the self-care tools that work for us individually, which is what the Healing the Healer sessions aim to do. And I reminded myself—“You can’t just talk about this, Rachel, you also have to do it!” Easy peasy, yes?
No. Not always. Life gets busy and crazy, with nary a moment to breathe at times. So that’s why I wanted to have this blog. To provide some space to breathe and support for self-care in ways that are rejuvenating, healing, and dare I say, fun?
Yes indeedy…I don’t want to make this all about shoulds, but instead to make it about some woo hoos! I say this from personal experience because, as I’ve been on this journey & handling emotionally taxing work, I realized I have a lot of “should” self-care to-dos, like green juice and yoga. Then, when I don’t do them, I get mad at myself! So I decided to create some woo hoo! self care tools that I look forward to doing for myself as well ….like coffee & doodling, drawing whimsical animals, reading a good book, walking on the beach, or watching a funny movie. Much easier-peasier to do those things I love. And they help me to relax & refuel, so, yes … woo hoos!
This is what I hope for all of us—teachers, social workers, therapists, attorneys, youth, and yes, you. That all of us, no matter our age or profession, do the work that lights us up and makes a difference while we also take care of ourselves without guilt or excuse. My big hope is that this happens all over the world for everyone!
As a little bit of self-care right now, please check out my drawing in the Sneak Peek post. It’s a preview for what to expect in my coloring book, my gift to you when you sign up for Wonder Blog. Yes, coloring isn’t just for kids anymore; it’s the next best thing to meditation, according to experts.* So grab a cuppa tea or your favorite beverage & some crayons and start coloring! And if you feel so inspired, you can also start doodling & writing down some of the words and symbols of things you love to do. Yes, your personal self-care woo hoos! –surrounded by loverly doodles:
Until next time, have fun doodling & woo hoo!
P.S. If you are thinking, “Hey, I want to read some more!” please check out this link to read about the efforts of my teacher, Shiloh Sophia, on the global level to create sustainability using creativity and her references to my Healing the Healer sessions to support this hope: http://redthreadnation.com/healing-the-healer-with-intentional-creativity/
