Self-Care through Creativity

Our final week of the July Self-Care Retreat is on Self-Care through Creativity.  And yes, I realize posting on a July event in Aug can be considered “creative”.  Just roll with me on this one…

I was more than a bit stumped for this one, because I don’t really consider myself creative.  I think I imprinted from an early age that I just wasn’t creative.  I do draw, but as an emotional outlet only. I also express creativity somewhat through food, and coming up with new and tasty treats.

As I pondered the topic, I think my main self care through creativity for me is in managing ways to take care of myself well.  It means driving places early to avoid traffic and taking a nap.  It means preparing some meals ahead so I can have an easy grab and go.  It means asking about ways to accommodate my body’s physical quirks, which usually requires calling or emailing ahead. It means working weekends so I can have more freedom for doctor’s appointments during the week.  It means asking for help when I need it…I swear, I’ve gotten more piggyback rides from strangers than I can count.  Creativity is assuming there’s a way to work things out, and then figuring it out.

I love the quote “Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from what you can”, and I think that’s a call for creativity!

Our host for this week is Iris of the Daily Dietribe, and I hope you check out her post and stunning pictures, too.

This virtual self-care retreat is to inspire you all to make July a month of reflecting on self-care and the many ways to nourish ourselves.   We encourage everyone to participate in this event in a way that feels appropriate to them, whether through personal reflection, journal or other self-care.  If you would like to share your experience with self-care, we would love to include you in the experience, whether you join us for one week or every week.  You can write generally about self-care, or focus on one of the themes (movement, food, family/friends/pets, creativity and meditation and mindfulness), or write every week about each of the themes.  We ask that you link back to this post so that more people can learn about this retreat, and leave a comment for the weekly theme host, too!  If you would like to be included in our  roundup, please email a link to your post, along with your name and blog name, to us at selfcareretreat at gmail dot com by Aug 8 2011.  Feel free to use the badge in your posts.  Non-bloggers who would like to contribute, please email the full text to the same address and it will be included in the roundup.

Valerie and I will be doing a round up of the Self-Care Retreat ASAP!