Today my Twitter timeline has provided two different articles that are about self care. This one from The Pool and this from Gamer Crafting.

The first talks about how we define self care and that for some of us it’s about what we need to continue to function more than it is about a candlit bubble bath. The second about how even creative people can suffer from burnout.

For me these are coming up at a very pertinent time. I have flu. My husband has flu. My child has flu. I think the dog is ok… The Small One is having a period of difficult sleep. I work for myself and if I don’t do the work I have agreed to do, I let my clients down. So basically, I am poorly and sleep deprived. Because my husband is sicker than I am, I am shouldering the bulk of the childcare and trying to keep up with my work. It’s hard. It’s fine, it’s how life goes sometimes, and I know it will pass.

However, I also need to survive it. Today this meant that I took a nap when Small did. Usually his naptime is my whirlwind time. Work, laundry, phoning the vet. The things that are prioritising someone or something other than me. I realised that I could force myself to work or I could admit that if I want to recover from this flu I needed sleep. And it was the right idea. I feel much better. I have more bandwidth to look after a Small and to do my share of household tasks. I even still got some work done and am not in any danger of letting anyone down.

I am actually quite proud of myself.