Welcome to Caregiver Friday!!
I know that holidays like Valentine’s Day may not be the most comforting for those of you who are caring for someone who is sick or injured. I could give you the “be grateful” that the person is still alive, but I’m not. I don’t think that cuts the mustard. I know that it’s a time of deep sensitivity and vulnerability and that’s why I want to focus on you today and only you.
It would be great if the Valentine’s Day of the past were present, but I’ve tried to encourage you the caregiver/wellness partner to care for yourself and that’s the direction for today. Make Valentine’s Day about you. If you haven’t received the 5-part e-course called “The Courageous Caregiver” then go http://www.survivingstrong.com and look in the right column where it says “Caregivers”. There’s strategies for self-care and reflection that are important.
To support you in this journey I thought the best gift I could give you for Valentine’s Day is a poem that really speaks to the love affair I hope you have with yourself because caring for yourself is at the center of this discussion…
Love after Love
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome.
And say, it here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
The photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.Sit. Feast on your life.
~Derek Walcott!
I wish you the best Valentine’s Day possible!
Pilgrim Pathway/Surviving Strong 