Three Things: Self-Care

1. Working out. I know, it's so lame and cheesy and UGH. But...it's totally true for me. Especially with the group I work out with now. There is something about moving my body that gets me out of my head, which is VERY hard to do. Also, it's something I can be proud of. I often think of the quote "No matter how slow you go, you are lapping everyone on the couch." There's people who have problems with this quote, and I get it. But when I think of it, I don't disparage other people. I think about lapping alternate universe Brittany. She would probably be at home, letting her kid watch too much TV while she stressed out over dinner or cleaning or who knows what. Truth is, I wouldn't be thinking as positively or treating my body as nicely. So every workout, which yeah I still often dread beforehand, I think "This is amazing. You are being so good to yourself right now. Way to go YOU, Brittany. Thank you for doing this for yourself."
2. Reading, and reading the books I want to read. I have sometimes read books that I felt I was supposed to read (for whatever reason), or books I put on my TBR but then ended up just not being in the mood for when I finally read them, etc etc. I've given up on that. I've come to terms with DNFing. I've even come to terms with the fact that sometimes I can't read just for the sake of diversity or politics. Sometimes I need that mental fluff to stay sane, and that's fine. I've started just randomly browsing the library and letting myself be surprised and just gravitate towards books naturally and randomly and it's lovely.
3. Spending time in nature. People have real problems with the idea that depression or anxiety can be "cured" by nature. And I completely get that. Different people need different treatments, and there is rarely a single treatment much less a cure for mental health. However, repeated studies have shown that nature can help with these things. I do not have diagnosed mental health issues, but I'm a human being and sometimes I get emotionally and mentally tired. Being in nature, even for just a little bit, helps energize me.