Dear COE faculty and staff,
Self-care in 2021 involves more than engaging in wellness activities. If we have learned one thing from this past year with the pandemic, it’s that the future can not be certain in the present. So another form of self-care at this moment is about how well we are able to face the unknown. Lori Holzman asks in the title of her recent article in January 2021 Psychology Today, “Do you know what self-care is?” She posits that, “holding fast to the belief that the happenings of our lives are knowable can get us into deep trouble. We can be unprepared materially and emotionally if things seem to take a sudden turn because we “thought we knew for sure” how they’d go. Accepting—better yet, embracing—unknowability helps us be more, not less, prepared. More prepared to participate in what’s transpiring and give some shape to it. More prepared to create with others what will emerge from the process. More prepared to improvise. More prepared to grow. More prepared to take good care of ourselves.” To learn more about this unique way to understand and engage in self-care, please read her article at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/conceptual-revolution/202101/do-you-know-what-self-care-is
For a list of other self-care options, please see our COE self-care website for resources for faculty, staff, students, and the community at:
https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/self-care/articles-information-self-care
Even as we try to anticipate the future, not knowing for certain what lies ahead allows us the opportunity to further develop resiliency, flexibility, and community as we solve problems together!
Warmly,
Shari