Delight Yourself

The importance of doing little things each day to care for ourselves

One of my favorite episodes of The Office features Michael Scott burning his foot on his George Foreman grill. This happens because he likes the smell of bacon in the morning so he decides to cook bacon on the grill at the foot of his bed, which he ends up stepping on. Now, this didn’t exactly turn out the way he planned but I get what he was going for. I understand wanting to create an environment where you can wake up to a smell you love. I don’t think you should do what Michael Scott did, but I get it. 

In my home office, I cleared a space for a tea station. I have my kettle and all the accouterments I need to make a nice little cup of tea because I don’t want to have to walk to another space to find something that brings me great pleasure. I can just roll my chair backward and there it is. I love it. 

There are all kinds of little things we can do to delight ourselves. 

• If you really love lavender you can put some in your pillow.

• If you love warm socks and blankets you can warm yours up before you get in bed or put them on.

• If you love tea or coffee you can set up a station in your bedroom or office. 

• If you love the way your nails look after they’re done, you can paint them yourself or get them done. 

• If you wear glasses you can keep a lens cloth in all of your common spaces so you can easily clean them. 

• If you want to make your daily bath or shower more like a spa experience, you can put some Epsom salts in the bath, or put a little eucalyptus bundle in your shower.

It doesn’t take a lot to care for ourselves. We often think self-care has to be a big thing. Our mind turns to massages, facial treatments, and vacations. In reality, you may need some new chapstick. Having moisturized lips might completely change your day. There are everyday things we can do to make our lives more joyful. 

If you’re not sure what delights you think about:

• What do you love in a hotel space when you go on vacation?

• What do you enjoy at other people’s homes?

• When you go somewhere and think, “That was such a great experience,” what are you referring to?

When we figure out the answers to these questions, we can use them to recreate these experiences at home. We can invite that energy into our personal space. 

When I think about the best part of holding somebody’s little baby, it’s smelling that baby lotion on them, feeling their soft little clothes and how clean and cared for they are. These are things we also need and forget to do for ourselves. There are a lot of us not taking the time to really rub lotion into our skin. There are a lot of us not wearing soft clothes. We’re out here wearing stuff that makes us itch. We’re not as considerate of ourselves as we need to be. We’re not nurturing ourselves the way we need to be nurtured. 

We may not feel like we have the time, but it’s worth our time to tend to ourselves and offer ourselves delight. 

Journal Prompt

• How are you taking care of yourself?

• What is something small you can do to delight yourself today?

A Few Things That Caught My Attention This Week

• 6 Phrases Adult Children Want to Hear From Their Parents, by Kelsey Borresen on HuffPost. 

• How to Show Up for a Friend Getting Divorced, by Jancee Dunn in The New York Times. 

• How to Accept an Apology While Still Hurt, by Charlotte Cowles in The Cut. 

• Bad Sisters. You can watch it on Apple TV.