September has a way of bringing us back to routine. Back to school, back to work, back to calendars, lunches, appointments and all the small tasks that keep a life moving.
In the midst of getting everything running again, self-care can easily become one more thing on the list—or something we promise ourselves we’ll get to once everything else is done.
Self-care as maintenance
But what if we thought of self-care less as an indulgence and more as maintenance?
Like tending a small pilot light.
We don’t need to feel energized, joyful or inspired all the time. But we do need experiences that help replenish us—small moments that settle the nervous system and remind us that life is more than simply getting through the day.
Making room for play and delight
We know some of the basics: sleep, nourishing food and movement all help support our capacity to meet everyday stress. But there may be another leg holding up the chair that we sometimes forget: pleasure, play and delight.
And these don’t necessarily require a lot of time, money, planning or energy. Often, they are already available to us, if we make a little space to notice and savour them: Putting on a song you love while making dinner. Doodling in the margin of a notebook. Tossing a ball for the dog. Dancing badly in the kitchen. Noticing the particular blue of the September sky. Making something for no reason other than the pleasure of making it.
Creative play can be especially restorative because, for a little while, we get to step outside the world of productivity and problem-solving. In expressive arts therapy, we sometimes call this decentering—shifting our attention away from the problem and into an experience of movement, colour, sound, imagination or play. The problem may still be there when we return, but we may meet it with a little more space around us.
And perhaps that is part of maintaining ourselves, too: keeping alive our capacity for curiosity, connection and delight.
As routines begin again this fall, you might ask yourself:
What delights me? What helps me feel a little more alive? What keeps my pilot light burning?
Then notice what happens when you make a little room for it—not as a reward for getting everything done, but as part of what helps you keep going.