{"id":26831,"date":"2021-06-01T16:51:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T16:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=26831"},"modified":"2021-06-01T16:51:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T16:51:52","slug":"a-self-care-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/a-self-care-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"A Self-Care Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">June 20, 2021 marks the first day of Summer &#8211; and after two years of navigating life amidst a global pandemic and massive injustices &#8211; this widely anticipated season has many of us eager to get outdoors and back to normal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But what exactly is normal anyway?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let\u2019s be real for a moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By definition, \u2018normal\u2019 is conformity to a typical state or condition. As a society, we\u2019ve always been subject to following the rules, but this wake in history has allowed us to recognize a number of flaws within our systems. Here are three things I noticed:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Capitalism destroys individual and communal value and trust.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are not enough adequate provisions for individual and familial care.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Labor and productivity do not determine personal worth.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The truth is that \u2018normal\u2019 has us rushing life &#8211; and our neglect for the present moment lessens our ability to experience it fully.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But perhaps it\u2019s the slowing down that seems most frightening. A lot comes to the surface with more room to think. Over the last two years, many of us have lost loved ones, have battled with financial instability, or have simply become exhausted by the endless trauma propagated in our neighborhoods or in mass media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And in all the silence and alone time, many of us came face-to-face with tough personal revelations we\u2019ve been too afraid to admit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>We\u2019re in the thicket &#8211; how will we see ourselves out?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If anything, my hope is that this time has taught us that self-love and self-care is a serious priority. We all deserve healthy \u201cme\u201d-first moments, so here are three ways we can take care of ourselves this summer:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Make room for grief.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yes, the very thing you may be trying to bypass or ignore. Our emotions are meant to be expressed and processed, and if we do not hold space to honor them, we are dishonoring ourselves. By allowing yourself to properly grieve, you can release things that no longer serve you and fill your cup with things that do.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Find a safe-space.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Whether it\u2019s journaling, talking to a friend, or spending time at a park &#8211; we all need a place where we feel welcome to show up fully, without fear of judgement. As humans, one of our primal needs is an environment that begets safety and encourages freedom. We can create this space on our own, but don\u2019t ever be afraid to ask for help. The support is always there if you seek it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Do what brings you joy.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This may come as a challenge, especially if we\u2019re accustomed to putting others before ourselves, but let\u2019s create new habits. Write that book, sing that song, call a friend, start that business! We deserve to experience goodness and it begins from the inside out. In fact, in order to fully be there for another person, you <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">must<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> take care of yourself, so why not prioritize you?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This moment is asking us to create a new \u2018normal\u2019 and it starts with taking care of you. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s never too late to begin &#8211; and as the saying goes, \u201cTime is of the essence.\u201d &#8211; <strong>so fill it with yours<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What does your self-care Summer look like? I\u2019m rooting for you!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>June 20, 2021 marks the first day of Summer &#8211; and after two years of navigating life amidst a global pandemic and massive injustices &#8211; this widely anticipated season has many of us eager to get outdoors and back to normal.\u00a0 But what exactly is normal anyway? Let\u2019s be real for a moment.\u00a0 By definition, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-givedetroit","category-leaddetroit","category-livedetroit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}