Lets talk about self-care.

   What does self-care mean? We can search for the result on google, but I don't think that we will find an exact result. In case you were going to search to check my point, I thrift you the search. You will find: "The practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health". And as a second option: "The practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress". And, I mean, it's not exactly wrong. But it's not exactly correct. At least for me.

 What I mean is pretty well explained in a Dove Cameron post (here's the link: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-vmO6rn_Or/). This stunning celebrity who always talks about themes like anxiety and depression, in her posts talks a bit about her experiences and gives "tips" for people to use them, or not. But I will emphasize two of her post. The first one (which I wrote the link before) has the following photos and caption:

 

Credit for the image to her instagram account: @dovecameron

   Caption: "healing is not always pretty. self care is not always face masks and fancy oils (though there’s nothing wrong with that). for me: self care right now is trauma work, writing, face time therapy, daily talks with myself about the acceptance of my life and my current state, attempting to stay physically healthy and not let my depression and anxiety win, and practicing patience. getting out of shape, and being ok with that. being on my phone all day when i wanted to spend time reading and baking, and being ok with that, and trying again tomorrow. setting loose plans, not meeting them, and being ok with that. losing control, and being ok with that. emotionally isolating (as well as self isolating), because it’s what i need to heal, and not going out of my way to find social connection like others are enjoying, because it’s not what i need. self care for me in this time, is following what i NEED, not what i’ve imagined this time looking like in my head or comparing how productive everyone else is being, and being ok with facing myself in all of my painful, messy and sometimes insufferable struggle with my mind. and, some face masks and fancy oils. this is a time where everything comes to the surface, as we all slow down, and what we normally engage in isn’t as accessible to us anymore. we are now, more than ever, faced with ourselves, and for some, like me, that can be scary. here’s to being kind, struggling, adapting, and doing some real fucking self care. though i’m doing what’s best for me & keeping my distance, i am always here. i hope you’re doing whatever’s best for you. 🖤"

   I mean, isn't this true? Self-care is different for everyone. We all want different things, we all need different things, we all are different so we cant expect to have all the same needs. And when I saw this post it changed my mind. I used to stress about everything. If I couldn't hand in homework in time, if I "wasted" the day on my cellphone or watching TV and I even stressed when I didn't enjoy for being stressed, and that just made me enjoy less. After I saw this I understood everything, and I'm going to quote something I told to a friend a few days ago, which was what led me to write this blog; "In my personal experience I can tell that we all disappoint ourselves at some point, and you have two options: to stress about it to the point that makes everything worst, or being fine with it and trying again later. You can choose, I have been choosing the first one for so many times and I don't want that for me anymore, so I decided to start choosing the second one" Which one are you going to choose?.

   I'm not an expert in self-care, but I think I have learned some things and this helped me a lot. I hope it can help you too.

 And the second post (link: https: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-IvwQdHXa6/). I'm not going to say much about this one because it has a lot of text and a not short caption. I hope you enjoy the reading as I did and that you take care of yourself. If you need to talk someday our Instagram DMs are always open, and if you want to share some of the things you do for your self-care we will be excited to read them.

Credit for the image to her instagram account: @dovecameron

   Caption: "psa: this is not medical advice, these are simply the things that have been helping me with my anxiety and depression in an extremely strange time of global health crisis. remember: it’s not natural for humans to be locked up, and anything you’re experiencing that is outside the realm of normal for you, (or, within your usual experiences with anxiety/other but greatly intensified) is normal! because this whole situation is not normal. i’ll keep adding to the list as i go, and we will keep an open dialogue. but i wanted to give you some other options besides social media and TV to alleviate the boredom. side note: technology has actually been proven to worsen anxiety and stress (probably because it’s not entirely native to us) so whatever you can do (i know it’s hard) to fill your time with other things, the calmer you may be! lastly: this is a list for people who have already handled the basic survival needs required for social distancing. if you are looking at this list and laughing because it seems frivolous, it is only for those who have been quarantined for some time and are in a position to now focus on things besides immediate needs. always do what you can to keep yourself physically safe first! but if you feel you now are ready/want to expand your lockup experience, this is for you. i love you! i’m holding the space for you. let’s all hold space for each other :)"

By: Pilar Rodriguez and Ayelén Pfeiffer.