Self-care needs our intentional attention

In this week’s podcast episode we address the importance of bringing intention to our self-care. Which reminded me of some overripe bananas! I know, what? Let me explain…

Recently I had some bananas on my counter getting very ripe for longer than necessary.

Normally I would put them in the freezer to save for making banana muffins at some later point. But I knew that I already had some overripe bananas in my freezer that I hadn’t gotten around to using yet. The chances were high that these bananas would end up in the frozen banana wasteland too!

Despite the fact that baking is something I enjoy doing, I just hadn’t been prioritizing it.

As a result I forced myself to leave the bananas on the counter as a cue to try to motivate myself to make muffins. But they still sat for a few more days.

I then realized that even with this visual cue, without a concrete plan for when I was going to make muffins, it was still unlikely to happen. So I looked at my schedule and realized that the next day I had an opening that would give me sufficient time to make the banana muffins.

With this intention paired with a concrete plan, I made the muffins!

And it was so interesting to me to notice not only how little time it actually took, but also how much I enjoyed the process. I have always known that baking is a self-care activity for me but I had never really considered intentionally incorporating it into my work week. I suppose there is nonetheless a part of me that equates it at times with being a (draining) food preparation task.

But this experiment allowed me to see that intentionally planning a baking activity during my work day (especially as more of a bonus treat vs a ‘daily grind’ meal) really did feel like self-care and even creative self-expression. Which of course fits really nicely with our 4 C’s pillars of Creativity, and even Connection, as it was a lovely way to connect with something enjoyable and important to me.

Who knew that bananas were so instructive?!

Especially with the holiday season upon us, I hope you can also bring some intentional attention to your self-care practices - whether baking, exercise, taking breaks, getting consultation, saying no, or anything else.

So that you can also connect with what matters most to you and move into the new year feeling grounded and resourced.

Where will your reflactions take you?