Why self care is a form of protest

Somewhere between the stone age and today, the world has turned bat-shit crazy. The other day, I read something and had a reaction I don’t often have.

'Protest is a form of self care.’

I just stopped.

You know those serendipitous moments where two seemingly different things that have played a major part in your life come together?

Yeah, that.

(And if that doesn’t make sense, imagine your new friend you’ve just met turning out to be a close friend of an old childhood friend).

So if protest is a form of self care, is self care a form of protest?

Absolutely.

We live in a world where we’re expected to work every hour of the day. We’re bombarded with solutions to the problem of how to be more productive. We sleep less and less. We spend more and more on shit we don’t need. 

Seriously, think about it. How many people end up living to work, rather than working to live?

How many of us end up being glorified by our friends and family because we do so much for everyone else, and never ever put ourselves first? Even if we’re exhausted, ill and teetering on the edge of burnout.

Self care is a legitimate form of protest. It’s a way of putting our middle finger up to the rest of the world, and saying that it’s not okay to value ourselves. It’s more than fucking okay - it’s necessary. And self care is a necessity.

It’s about standing up for yourself, and acknowledging that you matter just as much as the causes you’re fighting for, the people you’re looking after and the world that you’re trying to improve.

Please, take a stand for yourself. It’s not selfish, it’s not pointless. Your wellbeing fucking matters.