Even as many of us pack up to go to the beach it’s important also that we mentally pack up to get ready for this next week. While some of us are going on the vacation of our dreams, others are going home to their families. And each setting brings its own unique challenges and benefits. So as an example of what I’m bringing with me, here is my self-care toolbox for spring break:
MP3 Player
The first thing in my toolbox is my MP3 player. While I do have music on my phone, I’m also packing an MP3 player to help just keep me calm and distract me when I feel like it’s too much.
Candy
A small bag of sugar free lemon candy. This might just be a personal thing, but I find that the taste of lemonade and sweet fruit flavored candy in general just relaxes me. These also fit right in my pocket and recreate Dr. Michelle Pride’s pocket chocolate idea without the risk of melting.
Dog Pictures
Before I leave for my vacation on Saturday I am going to take a pic of my roommate’s dog, Remy, just so that I have a reminder that I have her to come back to here in Athens, not just the small mountain of projects that are looming in the distance.
Swear Jar
One thing that I am going to be trying this week in self care is what’s called a “Negative Energy Swear Jar.” I am going to have a small notebook in my backpack where I have a tally sheet, and whenever I feel like it’s too much, I put a tally mark. And at the end of the week, I will turn those tally marks into something like 25 cents a mark, and get myself something to make me happy. This also would work with a real swear jar system, with actually placing quarters or dollars in a jar, but I’m gonna be traveling all week.
Friends
The biggest thing that I’m taking with me on my vacation as part of my self-care toolkit is my friends. I will be traveling all week with many of my friends from the Singing Men of Ohio, as part of our southern tour.
Whatever you are doing as for your spring break, I hope this gave you ideas for how to self-care yourself. And maybe you can even build your own self care tool kit. As always the LGBT Center is here to help and answer whatever queeries are filling your head.
Have questions? We have answers! Send your questions via email to lgbt@ohio.edu and/or oulgbtcenter@gmail.com; via Tumblr (oulgbtcenter); via Twitter to @oulgbtcenter with hashtag #qaqueer; or post/message to Facebook (oulgbtcenter). So bring it on, do it to it and query a queer.
