What do you think of when you hear the words self care? I think of full body massages, afternoons alone at the beach with a good book and bedroom dance parties. To you, self care could be taking a hike, buying a new pair of Steve Madden shoes or just taking a nap. Did you see Netflix’s self care video? They recently dropped a dope promo video as part of their rollout for Nappily Ever After. It showcased different ways women perform self care. To many of us, self care means performing some action to our physical appearance or spending money in some way but after reading Tracee Ellis Ross’ interview in the November issue of InStyle Magazine, I realized that self care can be as simple as saying no.
Tracee has been one of my favorite women in entertainment since her Joan Clayton era. Whenever she appears on talk shows or gives written interviews, she always drops gems that I write down to come back to later. In her latest interview with InStyle, she answered a question presumably about how she keeps up her physical appearance and I LIVE for her response. “At 18 I might have woken up like this. At 45 I f—– work for it.” She then goes on to say how she believes self care is more than just face masks and her love for potato chips. “To me, self care does not mean going to the spa. It’s learning to say no. It’s knowing yourself so you can make choices that are an expression of you.” I don’t know why but I never considered saying no a form of self care. When you stop to think about it though it makes total sense. As women, we often find it hard to say no to things that don’t serve us. We feel like we have to be everything to everybody at all times. But that’s not true. Superwoman doesn’t exist girl! Sometimes it’s necessary for us to say no and walk away from people and experiences that aren’t going to help us get closer to the person we want to be. Saying no is more than uttering a single word, its an act of self care.
Dress// Forever 21 Hat// Forever 21 (similar) Boots// Boohoo (similar)
Purse// Windsor (similar)
