From Ordinary to Reciprocity
How many times in our day-to-day interactions, friendly conversations, or ordinary exchanges, do we utter the phrase “take care”? For me personally, the phrase “take care” is one I frequently use at the close of interactions with others. It has meaning. When I say it, I mean it literally. I want the other person to do what is necessary to prioritize their own well-being. I care. A lot. I care about the other person. And, I care about the world. I care about nature. Since we humans are nature, there’s a sentiment of reciprocity in the message.
The Need to Take Care
There is a heaviness in the world that many people are feeling right now and discussing more openly than I’ve previously noticed. There’s acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of things, of people, of living beings, and of circumstances. People are taking notice of what does and does not serve them, what does and does not serve their families, their communities, and their planet. There’s a sense, on many levels, that we need to take care.
For ourselves
On an individual level, this looks like people paying closer attention to the ways they may habitually distract themselves. Whether through technology and social media use, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs, material consumption, and countless other modern day quick fixes, they offer the allure of temporary ease and comfort. But, they come with effects that can cancel out our efforts toward individual wellness.
For our families
On the family level, people are taking notice when they are craving more time together, when they need things to slow down, when they desire connection on a deeper level than busy schedules and endless to-do lists seem to allow.
For our communities
On a community level, we can see the impacts of systems that need repair and people within those systems who are deeply fatigued and overwhelmed, trying to keep up and make positive changes to complex problems that are not easily ameliorated.
For our planet
On a planet level, earth, like us, keeps going. Yet, we can see evidence of fatigue and overwhelm here too. None of this operates in a silo. We are all part of nature and we are all interdependent, despite how independent our society aims to be.
Lessons from Play
I was outside with my children a few days ago and we were drawing with chalk. I began drawing a cyclical shape, starting from the center and working my way outward in one smooth motion. My daughter (4) took interest and picked up a piece of chalk. I watched with curiosity as she started wide and far from herself, making one, large, slightly jolty motion in a cyclical pattern which curved inward toward the center. This was a big “aha” moment for me. There I was, starting from my inner landscape and radiating outward into the world, and there she was, inside a shape that enveloped her center from the outside in.
We Need to Take Care
You could say we were just a grown up and a kid drawing and that this difference could even be coincidental. But I don’t think it was. I see it as a visual representation that starting to take care of ourselves and then radiating that energy outward, is the way we can positively impact our families, our communities, and our planet. If we choose the glass of water, the walk around the block, the moment of connection, the paced scheduling, the active engagement in our own wellbeing, that light will shine bright. And right now, we all really need a bright light in the darkness. We need to be guided, and in our very nature…we are. If healing is our aim, we need to take care.
