The past months have been a whirlwind. Work has been particularly demanding, Marikit has been extra makulit, but thankfully Adrian has been very helpful and accommodating.
I had received an award as outstanding faculty at the start of they year (thank You, Lord!) but I guess with great recognition (my version) also comes great responsibility (whew). I have been assigned as our Faculty’s Mental Health focal person, Quality Assurance representative, IJODeL Special Issue guest editor, and ICODeL 2021 Technical Subcommittee co-chairperson on top of being the DCS Program Chair. I’ve also been involved in one of our MOOCs for flexible learning. Thankfully most of these happened during the midyear (for the most part) so my usual teaching load didn’t make things crazier.
I am looking forward to take a five-day reenergizing leave this November though we will just probably stay at home because of the pandemic and strict traveling protocols in Benguet. Might as well just continue watching Blues Clues with Marikit (lol).
But seriously, that week would be a good time for some self-care. Earlier this year I attended a training as mental health focal person. One session emphasized the importance of taking time for self-care. (The context for that was that, if you are a mental health first aider and you yourself have been lacking in self-care, it would be difficult to care for others as well.) There was some sharing on how the participants kept themselves mentally healthy. Most mentioned going on walks outside while enjoying fresh air and nature. Meanwhile, mine involved diffusing oils, watching Netflix, and ordering through Grab Food or Foodpanda! Ahh look what the city did to me (I still miss it terribly). But other than those, let me share what self-care has looked like for me recently. Here are some I shared in Instastory/My Day/My Story a while back following a prompt from Miss Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio:
I love spending time (especially under the sunshine) with Adrian and Marikit! This is one of the perks of province life. In Makati we might only be able to have outings like these once a month. I’m also taking the time to read more for leisure. Good food (now often in moderation) always make my days happier and regular strength training with dance workouts have kept me from gaining too much weight again. In fact, I’ve lost weight and am back to my (still big) pre-pregnancy weight. Part of self-care is loving the body I am in right now, though. Still overweight but I can now see some muscle definition and I definitely feel stronger than I was even pre-Marikit. Prayer and devotion is also of course part of the list. As holistic beings, we also need to be holistic in our self-care (spirit, soul, and body).
I’ll probably do more of those things come November, but I hope we can still do something special though. But I had timed it with Adrian’s second vaccine dose (yes, that’s how slow the rollout is here) so we’ll see, we’ll see.
How about you? What does self-care look like for you?
scribbles and stories 