My colleague Jane and I have decided to keep a blog on self care. I feel excited about this.

As a registered social worker of 27 years and an educator of ten years, I know all about work that is all consuming and stressful. The pressures of each day leave my body feeling completely depleted and my mind buzzing in overdrive. Over the years I have been aware of the accumulative impact of this on my body.

I also wonder if there is something about health and social care work that invites people into it that naturally want to help others and so have a weak point in them, of perhaps tending to put other’s needs before their own. The famous adage: hear heal thyself.

So, here is my pledge: to make a commitment to exploring the art of self-care, in all its facets, for the next twelve months. And in making this pledge, I am making a commitment to myself.

I must admit, the cynical part of me is thinking: here we go again – more work! That’s a bit of a paradox. Why do I have to turn everything into a project😊?! The simple thing would be to just get on with it!

Perhaps I can’t trust myself. Perhaps if I just make a quiet commitment to myself, I’ll forget all about it tomorrow. And nothing will change. No one will know that I have failed. For, you see, this is something that I have a real problem with. Something I have struggled with for all of my life.

My hope is that by making a public declaration, a public pledge, not just for today, but for the next 12 months, that I will have no choice but to stick with it, good, bad and ugly, to the end.

I have a hunch that I’m not alone; that actually, lack of self-care is the number one malaise that affects everything else.

As you read this, I’m hoping that some of these things will resonate with you. And I’m hoping that the journey that Jane and I are about to embark on will also help you in your journey on self-care. We hope you will share your experiences with us in these blog pages.