Hi Yall,
I am honored to kick off MSA’s weekly post. Each week a different MSA staff member will take over to share a little reflection, excitement, or really anything about ourselves, our work, or the amazing communities we work alongside. Yall got me (Matt) this first week of the Winter 2021 quarter so I am going to share a bit about my break.
As we were leaving for break, it felt like the spaces I was in were ready to get away in hopes to be rejuvenated for our return. But as I kicked off the break, I stumbled on a tweet that shifted my perspective a bit in thinking about a break not as a rest top on some long exhausting journey, but rather a personal check-in to recenter yourself in a world that might often feel intentionally built to throw you off you’re your balance. I am hoping to carry this guidance with me into the quarter:
“Self-care should not be about helping you be productive again. Self-care should be a reminder that you are more important than productivity.” @grodriquezlemus
Now do not get me wrong, I find achieving personal goals and milestones to be very personally satisfying. But I can’t help think my milestones might stray on some questionable paths should I start to derive my worth in anything other than my actual self. My body, my being, my ideas, my feelings. So going into the quarter I am taking a harder look in the metaphorical mirror to make sure I am deriving self-worth internally before assessing my outputs (or the outputs of others).
One way I got started was by following some of the suggestions from the Native Wellness Institute about engaging our happiness chemical. Some of these practices have provided me a good deal of time and space to see a much clearer picture of my self-worth and my not so healthy habits that jeopardize that sense of worth.
Any random thoughts, musings, reflections, or realizations over break you are taking into this quarter? Drop them in the comments!