So much of our lives are focused on checklists, productivity, responsibilities, and things we need to accomplish. All of these things typically are purposeful, and it certainly feels great to check things off and feel like we are moving forward whether at work or around the home or more broadly with life goals. Yet, sometimes we go about this focus with tunnel vision at the expense of ourselves.

For a long time now I have been writing and sharing about self-care of a deeper sort. As nice as manicures, massages, and hair highlights are, there is a deeper part of us that longs for and needs nurturing. This extends beyond caring for our physical bodies, though that’s important too. It’s about attunement and nurturing of our whole selves–body, emotions, mind, and spirit.

On paper there was nothing “productive” about it. It meant pressing pause to the endless checklist of what needs to be done for the home, for our kids, and for work, yet it was nurturing on the soul level. While rest can be so difficult to access and make room for, maybe it really is as simple as saying yes–yes to ourselves and to our souls, yes to our faith and what really grounds us, and yes to connection both with ourselves and others.