A Way I Take Care - Writing!

Writing is therapeutic to me. When I write, I sit down, get cozy, have a drink beside me, cuddle up with my cat if I am writing at home, and am just quiet for an hour or so (sometimes longer!). I can shut my mind off to anything else, and just think solely about what I am writing. I allow the thoughts to come to my mind in a constant flow and work through each one. I greet each idea and think it through - I put it in my own words ... and writing it down makes something that did not exist before, exist! 

So creating this self-care blog for others to enjoy and to serve as inspiration for their own self care methods, is actually self care in itself for me. The act of creating the content I will be posting here is therapy to me. It calms me! It grounds me and brings me focus. It reminds me that I am creating something worthy and contributing something that is valuable.

In college we were taught about the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

The idea here is that human beings have needs. To survive, we need to have our physiological needs met first: air, water, food, shelter, etc. Once those needs are met, we need the next tier, safety needs: security, employment, resources, etc. Again, once those needs are me, we need the next tier. It continues to love and belonging, esteem, and then finally self-actualization. The idea here is that we must start at the bottom tier and work our way up. Attaining each level of need allows your body and mind to look for more. By reaching the top of the hierarchy means that you have been motivated in life and put in effort to reach your full potential as a human. 

I feel as though I am just coming out of the 'new-mom' tunnel. My head has been down for about 5 years now in 'survival mode'; I was living in a way that was just making sure my basic needs were met. I barely made it to tier 3!! But I am feeling ready now to grow and move up the pyramid. The creation of this blog will fulfill my needs of love and belonging by creating a following and a community of those who believe in me and think like I do. It will definitely bring me esteem by building my self-respect, status, strength and freedom. And it will allow me to reach for that final tier of self-actualization by becoming the best possible version of myself. 

Where do you fit in to this hierarchy of needs right now in your life? What are you working towards?

xoxo
Alisha