We all have heard the importance of personal care and self-love. We have been told time and time again how imperative it is that we take care of and love ourselves first and foremost. I’m sure we’ve all experienced it before, too.
Your grades improve. Your relationships grow. You excel at work. You shine.
When we dedicate time everyday to do the things that make us balanced, healthy and happy, we prosper. We so often forget this. We lose sight of just how crucial it is.
There are so many factors that go into why we do this, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we continue to shift it back and remind ourselves and others that our well-being should be the top priority above every other task on our to do list.
I recently found a quote by Amanda Runningmandz via tumblr that really resonated with me: “I’m tired of people romanticizing overexertion. Exhausted is not the new chic, coffee (though a delicious necessity) is not a food group, and running on fumes is not admirable.
“Why do we hold pedestals for sleepless nights, breakdowns, and inner turmoil? Are those really things to aspire to? Self-care. Balance. The ability to know when your body, mind and spirit need to take a step back.
“Those are things we should admire. We have to stop blurring the line between ‘commitment’ and self-endangerment because too many people are burning out before they have a chance to truly shine.”
It takes a whole lot of trust in the powers that be sometimes to allow yourself to surrender to the needs of your body. This is so hard. There are so many things and people that we make commitments to, but when you’re burnt out, are you really doing those people any good?
When you’re cranky, sad, anxious or overwhelmed, the work and time that you exert for any project, or any person, will not be at full potential.
We’re partly known as the multi-tasking generation, but is that really ideal? Maybe we shouldn’t be trying to do all this at once.
Maybe, in the words of WCU professor Mitch Goldfarb, when we “do less, we achieve more.”
As much as we are all on these individual paths, we can’t undermine the importance of our connection to one another. The love we hold, think and give to others, is essential.
During this time of the semester, we all stay pretty focused on our own tasks at hand, as we should, but we congregate in the same areas a lot of the time.
We may think that we’re in our own little world, but we are all affected by the thoughts, energies and conversations around us.
We create the space that we are in. It’s beneficial to you and those around you to think happier. How do you think happier?
Love, of course. Self-love. External love. Loving words. A loving attitude. A loving spirit. Love is what will help us get through a finals week, not caffeine or sleepless nights.
If you’re unsure whether the act your currently performing is positive or negative, take a second and ask yourself if it’s coming from a place of love. If it is, do it. If not, try not to.
The last piece that I want to discuss is our wind-down or “relaxation” time. For so many of us, our way to let loose and momentarily forget out commitments is when the weekend rolls around.
We want to go out, socialize, indulge in the vices of our choosing and forget about our responsibilities. This is really important. We should be taking time to celebrate our accomplishments and life for all that it is.
But we have to be careful that the manners in which we party aren’t doing more harm than good.
The events organized by Cultivate Your Mind come from love. During the planning process, my tribe and I constantly take a step back and ask: How can we make this more loving?
Our motivation is not money – it’s love. We are not trying to sell you anything – we just want to spread smiles. We are doing this as a means to create a community of creative culture and conscious living.
We want there to be more spaces for people to go out and engage socially while also personally growing.
On Friday, April 15, we are throwing our third festivity at the Sprout Music Collective on 130 E. Prescott Alley. Part one of the event begins at 4 p.m. and will end in a drum circle outside starting at 7:30 p.m. You must be 15 years or older to attend.
We will have everything from slacklines, hooping, an open mic, reiki, massages, games, gardening and cooking demos, tie-dye, face painting, and more. There will be local vendors, a photobooth, plenty of giveaways, and lots of love and happiness.
You can get your ticket ahead of time for $5 at cultivateyourmind.eventbrite.com or at the door for $7.
The second part of the event will begin at 9 p.m. and will flow until 2 a.m. You must be 21 or older and must R.S.V.P. Reach out to CultivateYourMindEvents@gmail.com or find us on Facebook to get your name on the list.
Regardless of the journey you’ve chosen and where you’re at on that journey, you have a place here. Just come with an open mind and open heart, and you’ll fit right in. I hope to see you all there.
Ashley Struempfler is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies with minors in web tech and business/technical writing. Contact them at AS782685@wcupa.edu