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Episode 2. “Self-Care as Self-Preservation”

July 20, 2017 by Katey Zeh

Photo by Carli Jeen on Unsplash

Does self-care have to cost a lot of money? Does it have to be practiced in solitude? We discuss the guilt and insecurities we feel when we don’t know how to meet our own needs–and offer up some practices that have helped us learn to do just that.  

We lift up Audre Lorde’s definition of self-care (self-preservation) as a way for us to rethink the practices that restore us for the ongoing struggle to create a more just world. We also discuss the assumptions in many of our faith communities that we are inclined toward selfishness–when in reality many of us, especially those who take care of others, don’t know how to prioritize our own needs.

What We’re Reading

Katey raves about Tiffany Dufu’s book Drop the Ball, her memoir about navigating her professional and personal life and the gender dynamics at home that she had to re-work in order to thrive. (If you want a glimpse into the book, listen to her interview on Call Your Girlfriend.)

Ashley shares about Jacqueline Woodson’s poetic novel Brown Girl Dreaming about her experience growing up as an African-American girl in South Carolina and New York.

Kindreds of the Moment

Rev. Dr. Shannon Craigo-Snell, Professor of Theology at Louisville Seminary (and Katey’s former seminary professor at Yale), writes daily prayers of resistance. You can read them on her Facebook page or on her website.

Resources 

  • If you’d like to try meditation, check out Tara Brach’s meditations for beginners.
  • Listen to the Bitch Media podcast episode “Self-Care is a Radical Act–Especially for Black Women“
  • Read “Healers of Color on Why Self-Care is Not Self-Indulgence.” Miriam Zoila Pérez, gender columnist for Colorlines, interviews self-care advocates from different traditions on how we can apply Audre Lorde’s words to today’s struggles. We especially love this quote from La Sarminento: “Know that in any given moment, our comrades are working for causes that matter. For one of us to take a break for a few minutes or a few days is totally OK.”

 

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: audre lorde, brown girl dreaming, church, drop the ball, jaqueline woodson, meditation, podcast, resistance, self-care, selfishness, shannon craigo-snell, tara brach, tiffany dufu

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