While winter carries unique beauty and novelty in itself here in Edmonton, the Qi Creative office begins to liven up in Spring. The snow begins to melt, opening up our upstairs patio space for collaborating once more. The sun begins to stream down through the large glass windows on both floors, and the office shoe racks gradually shift from collecting our ice-hardy boots and leathers to more nimble flats, pumps and sneakers.

Some of these changes we make without knowing it or thinking about it too deeply—like switching from a hefty pair of winter boots to something more warm-weather friendly when trying to rush out the door in the morning.

Some changes take deliberate time, resources and energy—like needing to book an appointment for your tire changeover for your car, or keeping a tab on Spring and Summer camp activities to register for before the school year ends.

Whether it’s a ‘given’, a 'no-brainer’ to hang up a wool sweater for a lighter cardigan when the weather heats up, or requires a bit more thought to implement like scheduling a medical check-up, these changes are part of the behaviors we do in an effort to provide Self-Care to ourselves on a present-and-future basis.

What is Self-Care?

Self-care sounds simple, and self-care has been somewhat trendy as a topic lately—caring for yourself, in deliberate ways, for the overall benefit of your well-being. In the 5 Areas of Need, we define Self-Care more comprehensively as Self Help and Adaptive Functioning:

“Self-help is what people do (usually through activities of daily living) to be able to take care of their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and wellbeing. Adaptive functioning is how people cope to the demands of every day life by using practical, social, and conceptual (organizational) life skills.”

— Definition at qicreativeiq.com

Here we have the common cup of tea. Tea can represent choice, care, and a sense of comfort, demonstrating that the power of Self-Care can come in gestures as small as a cup of tea. (WOOSH! Issue 2.1)

What the trendiness of Self-Care tends to miss, is the reality that Adaptive Functioning tries to fill in: that in our daily lives, there are everyday and chronic stresses, from catching the flu to bills unpaid, from trauma to unemployment, that can make the gestures of Self-Care seem inefficient, small, or useless in the grander, more complex picture of our lives.

But overall, Self-Care is a flexible and fluid concept that everyone can benefit from no matter the magnitude of what you’re dealing with. There is no one ‘correct’ way to be doing Self-Care, and most importantly, Self-Care IS important, in the way that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Self-Care is not always comfortable, but Self-Care is caring.

Just like how “time enjoyed is not wasted”, time spent in Self-Care is ultimately beneficial in the moment and in the long run. If all Self-Care was comfortable, we’d likely be doing it all the time—but we know that depending on the activity, like blocking off the time to go to the doctor, or declutter stacks of old papers, or lacing up a pair of running shoes—can take real time, effort, and stress to go through.

But once you look back on a cleaner home, a new prescription in your hands, a full tank of gas, a selfie after a fun coffee date, an out of breath self after a walk around the neighbourhood—know that you’ve made one of many small steps to come in cultivating a caring tomorrow.

“It gets easier. Every day it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it every day—that’s the hard part. But it does get easier.”

— Jogging Baboon, BoJack Horseman

Self-Care is more about a long term lifestyle than short term gestures.

This isn’t to say that everything we occupy ourselves in life is supposed to go towards our Self-Care (who has time to spend at the beach, or in the gym 6 hours a day?), but the ways in which we invest in Self-Care tend to support our lifestyle, and our daily living experiences, through nourishing our physical and mental health, our spirituality (what we find meaningful to us), and our social relationships.

In our work here at Qi Creative, it is our passion to help carve out what these different strengths and habits are for each person, and provide coaching support to help celebrate when a skill is developed, a strategy built, a toolkit expanded. We know that there is no “magic wand” for picky eating overnight, but by introducing strategies day after day, we can work towards a goal of enjoying more diverse foods, working with sensory aversions, and ultimately encouraging better nutritional habits over time. In this context, Self-Care is not letting picky eating have its way, but going through the intentional efforts to build a less picky tomorrow.

Self-Care doesn’t mean you have to do everything by yourself.

An important footnote is that Self-Care is not selfish; it does not ask for you to focus on yourself to the point that we forget the responsibilities and demands of those who need us. As much as it “takes a village to raise a child”, it takes a community to lift each other up.

Spending the time to google resources, engage with professional help, join a jogging group, cry on another’s shoulder, simply show up for someone else—when in doubt, know that Self-Care is about strengthening your supports and your resilience more than reducing individual struggle. And whether you’re actively working with us or just stumbling upon our blog for the first time, our doors are always open if you need support.

March 19th marks the First Day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. While you may be taking the time to notice your personal space in this particular context of Spring Cleaning, also take the time to see the ways in which you are supporting your own Self-Care—and what could use a ‘cleaning’ of its own.