day 81.

Wednesday. Midweek self-care for real.

Today I treated Wyatt and I to brunch at gravy. Brunch is my favorite meal. Seriously, there is something so special and decadent about brunch. Maybe it’s the jew in me (we really value a good brunch, I feel), but brunch will always have a delicious spot in my heart.

Then I had counseling. Which was great and it was really nice to be talking about some different things for a change. I feel like I’ve been processing the same situation for months when I go there (which basically I have been) and it feels really good to be moving on a lot. I’m proud of myself for the work I’ve been doing.

And then acupuncture. Oh how I love acupuncture. One of the best acts of self-care I have prioritized for myself in recent months. It just does wonders for me.

Next Wednesday I’ll be on spring break and headed out of town, so I won’t have my usual midweek replenishment. I’m really looking forward to being off work and school, but I’ll also be looking forward to my next Wednesday self-care extravaganza to come.

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day 60. leap day.

So, a couple weeks into January I realized that 2012 is a leap year. Which means that technically, this project should be called 366 days of self-care, but I like the way 365 sounds better so I decided not to change it. It does mean that I have one more day to get this right, and I’m ok with that.

Epic Wednesday self-care for the last day of February:

• counseling
• acupuncture
• garden prepping
• and I bought myself a bouquet of my favorite flowers, pink ranunculus:

Working on setting new goals and intentions for March. More to come.

day 46.

Wednesdays are turning into big-time self-care days. It’s nice to have a day off of work in the middle of the week to get shit done and take really good care of myself.

Today I had counseling. I decided to go back to every week due to having a lot more stuff come up emotionally recently. I think it’s a good move on my part for now. And it is really helpful to talk stuff out and feel really safe to do that kind of work.

After counseling, I had acupuncture. An hour on that table is all I need sometimes. She did some emotional work on me as well this week. I’m trying to hit it from all angles. Can’t hurt.

I also went to clary sage herbarium today for the first time. I picked up a clearing flower essence blend for removing negativity. I was making my own blend for awhile using bach’s flower essences and a gem essence, mostly for stress relief and anxiety, but I stopped using it awhile ago. I haven’t really felt the need for it, in a good way. I was talking today with my housemate about how when things feel good, we let simple self-care stuff slide. But when things aren’t so awesome we return to them. Because they help, even if it’s just a mental shift that’s happening. And how really, I should be doing this kind of maintenance self-care all the time. This project is partly about breaking that pattern for me. So I’m going to be more intentional about taking flower essences, and I think adding this clearing blend to the mix is really good for me.

I also bought a delicious loaf of rosemary green olive bread and some brie to go with it. And some coconut macaroon ice cream! I shouldn’t have gone to the grocery store so hungry, but I think I made some good choices in terms of food splurges.

And day 15 of fatshion february!

day 39.

A day full of self-care and serious body love.

The highlights:

• A new bustier for a party I’m going to this weekend. It is really hot and made me feel so good about my curves. Plus it was on sale for $10, can’t beat that.
• Counseling. Not as intense as last time (thank god), but still really good and productive. I feel like I’m getting somewhere, at least.
• Acupuncture. I went to that space that I only get to when I’m on the table. I really like that space.
• Unexpected and delicious dinner times with a bestie. I ate some of the most amazing pickled things I’ve ever had. And I feel pretty strongly about pickles.
• More late night art making. Really lifting my spirits right now.
• Fatshion February day 8.

day 25.

self-care goal: go to counseling 

I started going to counseling back in September or October, just as my 4+ year relationship was beginning to end. Counseling has helped me work through some really tough, vulnerable, heart-breaking things these past few months, and I’m so thankful that I am able to go regularly and that I have a counselor I feel really comfortable with. It was a huge step just to seek such outside support, and I’m glad I loved myself enough during such a difficult time to do it. And while I don’t think therapy is for everyone, and I totally have my own hang-ups around it, for me, it has been life/heart-saving.

So today I had counseling. I recently started going every other week,  so it had been a bit since I saw my counselor last. And the session today was intense. I felt raw again in ways I haven’t felt in a while. Things came up that I thought had already been dealt with and new hurts were revealed. She referred to it as “the second wave,” and it definitely felt like a wave crashing into me, trying to knock me down.

In some ways it was totally devastating and in others really transformative. I think that’s the power of counseling for me.

And I’m still standing.