Self Care

Self care is an important concept in my field. In community mental health especially we are exposed to secondary trauma daily by hearing and connecting to the life stories we do. We've been hugged and we've been spit at, we've been praised and we've been blamed, we've been thanked and we've been cussed out, we've known the best of human behavior and the worst of it. The work we do is hard. The only way to sustain a life's work in this profession is to develop the skill of balancing the caring for others with caring for self, making sure your filling up more than your giving out.

I know I'm one of the blessed ones in that deep in my core I have a knowledge and a fulfillment that the work I do is exactly what I'm suppose to be doing. From my first day on the job, I loved it and I knew. Community mental health isn't for everyone but it is for me.  My whole career? Maybe. For right now? Certainly.

I'm writing this post because mostly I feel I need to put some words to some of my work experiences over the past week. It is been probably the hardest week I've ever had on the job. We had a crisis situation that I was in charge of managing that ultimately had a good outcome but along the way involved some very difficult experiences for my staff and myself that I feel we will take some time to heal from.

Self care is an important concept no matter what you do or where you work because the truth is life is just hard sometimes and its a necessary life skill. Sure you might survive without it but you certainly won't thrive without it. I had already planned a media fast prior to the events of this week. I think the timing is not coincidental. As I reflect on ways I currently practice self care, I will be challenged to do that in different ways, deeper ways, and I'm sure longer lasting ways.

I'll be back with some more reflections post fast until then see you in a few weeks...