It's amazing how we can do something for others easily enough, even when there's already too much on our plates... but when it comes to doing it for ourselves we aren't quite so flexible OR generous!
I am sitting here writing this blog while on 'Live Chat' to Scottish Power on behalf of Mum. I won't bore you with the long old story but since she got super sick and I've been put officially in charge of all her 'affairs' I feel like half my life is taken up with talking to (arguing) with utilities and the other half is taken up with sitting on hold waiting to argue with various companies in the first place. I wouldn't be quite so keen to do this for myself but manage to lose hours on Mum's behalf. Why is that?
Then, on Sunday, someone said to me 'it is ok, y'know, to stop. It is ok to do something that will top up your energy reserves instead of running about for everyone else, you just need to give yourself permission to do it...'
Well. Hmm.
I guess they are right?
I mean, they are right... aren't they?
I'm on my knees amidst Mum's stroke/care, a cancelled wedding, a warehouse move, clearing Mum's bungalow, kiddo finishing his school life, drama productions, residentials, Dixie Dot operations, training new staff and now a house move thrown into the mix.... but I'm no different to all of YOU juggling every little thing in your lives too.
Do YOU ever give yourself permission to stop?
Permission to take time for yourself?
Permission to do something different?
Despite what social media perpetuates about 'self care' doing a face pack and painting your toes will not revolutionise your life overnight.
Self care is about doing things that top up your reserves
It's the practice of taking deliberate actions and making choices that prioritise your physical, mental, AND emotional well-being and purposefully engaging in activities that help you to do this.
I used to be really quite good at this but somewhere along the way.... Covid lockdowns, health, family commitments, whatever - I have got more than a little bit lost.
And that's because I've become rubbish at saying yes to myself.
To all of you who are reading this and hearing themselves, all of you who are tired, weary, overcommitted, stressed and shuffled to the bottom of the priority list, to those who wake up and want to pull the duvet over their head because facing another day feels heavy, to those who can't think the last time they did something THEY want to do for themselves... I'm rounding us all up together and saying this:
If it makes it easier to have someone else tell you what you are and aren't doing today: you are hereby granted permission to give YOURSELF permission to DO SOMETHING FOR YOU.
That's right. You've got permission to give yourself permission!
No more botto
m of the pile for you, no siree!
Slowly, deliberate acts of choosing ourselves will bring us back into balance and make things feel a little lighter. Slowly we will bring ourselves upwards in the list of priorities. This isn't an overnight thing. This is not where you'll decide to do this today and then wake up tomorrow feeling like a brand new human. No, this is a baby-steps p
rogression, conscious choices, purposeful behaviours.
Ironically, Dixie Dot was born from this place - a place of trying to get my life back on track after being in a bad situation. I believed that craft (and what would be termed Craft Therapy now) would help so many people improve their own lives too. I threw caution to the wind and opened a studio so I could reach more people who could also see the positive effects.
The purpose of Dixie Dot hasn't changed - personally I might have fallen off the wagon and spent more time running a business than appreciating the benefits of crafting but perhaps that's where my balance went a bit wrong!
If we can b
e a part of you finding balance, great; we want you to come and try something new,
have some quiet time, perhaps find a hobby, make some friends, embrace the physicality of creating something that wasn't there before.
(sidenote: We don't care if YOU think you're rubbish - we won't! We believe that what you make as a finished product is important, b
ut enjoying and embracing the process of creation is moreso.)
But,
however you decide to choose to take the weight off - whether you decide to visit us, or take up Karate instead, whether you just start by learning that 'no' is a complete sentence and doesn't need justification, or you begin a regular bedtime routine - we hear how you're feeling right now and want you to know that you aren't alone.
You've definitely got what it takes to make some changes even when you're exhausted.
And if you can't quite muster permission for yourself remember that you've always got our permission... to be who you are and do exactly as you wish!
With love and solidarity for brighter days ahead,
Trace &
The Dixie Dot Team
xXx
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