What Is The Real Meaning of Self-Care?

Today, our bosses let us go home earlier than usual. Our office hours were only till 3 pm in commemoration of World Mental Health Day. Once I've heard about it this week, I couldn't thank our big bosses enough for letting us take some time off to have some self-care.

Self-care. These two words were not given a thought before. Have you ever heard of the term self-care before during the early to mid-2000s? Nope right? Same here. But when this was introduced, capitalists all over the world just plainly use this to capitalize on people's mental health. Unknown to many, mental illnesses that we encounter today have been around since forever. Thank goodness that we now openly discuss mental illness and mental well-being. Being healthy isn't just supposed to focus on one's physical health but their mental health as well. 

I once heard a comment before saying that there's no such thing as being depressed. It's just a way for one person to gain attention from everyone. In layman's term, she is saying that depression is simply "pagiinarte". Well, surprise. People die every day because of that "pagiinarte" and it is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. Anyway, I'm not making this blog to talk about mental health because of 1. I am in no position to talk about this topic 2. I am not clinically diagnosed with any mental illness as of the moment and lastly, this blog is about SELF-CARE.

What does self-care TRULY mean?

Well, for me, self-care is plain and simple. It's about taking a break from all the challenges and stress that you face every day in your life to give time to take care of yourself may it be physically, mentally, or both. 

The ultimate self-care for me is being able to go to the beach, with a book in my hand, while sipping an ice-cold mango shake and listening to the sounds of the wave. It's pretty simple right but for me, that keeps my sanity. 

But self-care differs from each individual. There are people whose definition of self-care is extravagant like buying luxury goods, going to different countries every month, or checking in some fancy hotel. There are also people whose self-care routine is just simply having their favorite cup of coffee, or going to a local spa. It varies depending on who you are talking too so there's no right or wrong way of doing a self-care day.

For me though, I'd like to share how I celebrated World Mental Health Day today through doing my simple, no cost at all self-care. The moment our company announced that we can go home early today, I immediately pictured out how I will be spending it. Let me share some activities that made me feel better today:

I jogged today.

I've always been a fan of walking. I can walk for hours no matter how far is the destination without any complaints as long as my shoes are comfortable. I remember walking from SM Megamall to Antipolo Cathedral during Holy Week as my sacrifice but to be honest, that's a sacrifice that I enjoy. So today, I jogged for a couple of minutes and brisked walk. I really can't run because #asthmaticproblems but I still want to get moving through walking around our community.

As I jogged today, I took my spare time to savor the cold breeze of autumn air (though there's no autumn or fall here in our country) and I appreciated every detail that I got to pass by during my jog. I'm quite lucky that our home is situated in such a beautiful and peaceful community making life easier for me (Except for the fact that this place lacks parking lot).

I watched the sunset.

While jogging, I took time to appreciate the beauty of this so-called "golden hour". I jogged at a moderate pace so that aside from I don't get too tired, I also get to watch how the sun slowly sets. I always appreciate our place's sunset every time I'm home during the golden hours because even if we are situated in the city, you can watch how the sun sets beautifully amidst all the tall buildings in BGC. It's beautiful, promise.

I took my time in the bathroom.

Every single day, the maximum time that I can spend in our bathroom is 15 minutes or else I will be late for work. So during weekends, and especially when I'm on vacation in a local hotel or I'm out of the country, my non-negotiable is to have a loooooong bathroom time. When I'm out of the country or town and staying in a hotel, I make it a point to either wake up extra early or sacrifice some time before bed to take a bath for 1 hour. I know, it's ridiculous. But I love my bathroom time so much that after my jog, no matter how old our bathroom is, I really took some time to relax and do all the numerous things that I have to do in the bathroom HAHA (so with that, you can already imagine how hotel bathrooms are such a big deal for me).

I read some books. 

This is my everyday self-care since I started reading again this month. Imagine, we're only 11 days in for October and I've already read 6 books! I bought a series of books that I can read at least one book a day and so far, I'm happy with how my drive for reading books is once again ignited. I love reading. My family knows that and those people who are truly close to me knows that I've already read tons of books. I started reading as my hobby during my 4th-year high school and since then, I am obsessed with reading. It's one of those small activities that I do to make myself happy each day. 

I watched Netflix.

Ever since I subscribed to Netflix, it has become my non-negotiable. I swear, I stopped watching local TV since I got Netflix. When you come here to our house, you won't find any TV set here. Why? Because I don't need one. I just need my Netflix and I'm good. When I'm feeling down and low, all I have to is rewatch F. R. I. E. N. D. S. It's my all-time favorite sitcom because of the cast and how every episode makes me happy. Also, I am so cultured when it comes to movies and music. I know movies and music that goes way back the 80s so yup, I am quite a nerd.

I drank hot chocolate while writing. 

Before writing this entry, I opened my very trusty diffuser, made myself some hot chocolate and just start typing words. I'm almost done with my blog and I'm now done sipping my hot chocolate. I am never a coffee person so the only coffee I drink is Krispy Kreme's Iced Glaze coffee (I'm not even sure if it has caffeine LOL) and Starbucks' Caramel Macchiato (particularly the one in PhilPlans, I always rave how they get my mix perfectly) which are obviously, not available right now since I have no idea how to make my coffee (I'm really picky when it comes to this) so I'm down to my ol' trusty hot chocolate. It makes me happy and no matter how many sugar or calories in it, I still make myself one as a feel-good drink which also gives me energy that can last me the whole night or day (Depending on when I drink it but usually at night so I'm now an insomniac lol). 

As you all know, I love writing and blabbering so writing an entry in this blog is considered one of my biggest self-care today. 

I listened to good music.

Same as Netflix, I can't live without this one. Take everything away from my self-care list, just don't touch my music. I loveeeeeeee good music and I even created specific playlists (here) for my every mood or activity. I know, I'm a freak. But same with the way I like my coffee, I am also very picky and particular with the songs I listen too. There are songs that I just can't listen to but there are a lot of songs that I also listen to every day. I remember just a few days back, how my mom is making fun of my music choices for that night which is comprised of old-school songs like Blue Moon, La Vie En Rose (full version), and Love Me Tender. I know songs as old as the 60s perhaps? Quiz me on Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Queen, Airsupply, and some new songs from Ed Sheeran, Adele, Taylor Swift, etc. I know them. That's how wide my music knowledge is HAHA. 

So, if you're wondering, why the heck am I sharing my self-care list if it's too mundane or boring for some people? Well, simple. Because I just want to send a message to everyone that you can take care of yourself without spending too much or making so much effort. Self-care is not just for privileged people. Just look at the simple things that make you happy and do it. It might not cure your depression or anxiety, but at least, for a few hours or minutes, it made you feel good. You don't need to fly out of the country or spend thousand of bucks in buying things (well, you can do that too if that's your way of self-care) because the main point here is, prioritize yourself. You don't need to do these activities all at once. I'm just lucky that today, I had some time for myself. You can do whatever you want that will make you feel good every once in a while. Just take a break. 

That's it. I'm done with my loooooong sharing. I'm now off to watch more movies and hopefully sleep well tonight. I sincerely hope that you learned a thing or two from today's blog entry. Making you guys smile with my writings makes me feel happy too. Let me know what activities make you happy as well. I'll be glad to read them all.

Love,

KAT 💞