Self-care isn’t necessarily simple. If it were simple, we wouldn’t talk about it so much. We wouldn’t feel guilty about the times we can’t seem to make it happen. We wouldn’t watch as exhaustion leads us and others to quit jobs, become sick with preventable diseases, self-medicate or let important relationships wane.
Theologian Martin Marty views simplicity as a gift “rooted in the very heart of God.” Yet like all of God’s gifts, simplicity gets buried in our human-created to-do lists and activities. The things that keep us busy often have more to do with our own and the world’s unresolved, unhealed pain than with God’s love and grace. For me, caring for myself is about beginning small.
Embracing the gift of simplicity in self-care means renaming small, blessed moments of re-booting: putting my feet up for a few minutes, acknowledging the feeling of a warm teacup on palms and fingers or writing near a window so I might watch a flitting bird. Claiming these moments helps me feel that I do take care of myself.
This message is excerpted from “Simple moments of self-care” by Jennifer Ohman-Rodriguez in the January/February 2022 Gather magazine.
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