— Jack Kornfield
Ma Chronicles: Caring for a Loved One With Alzheimer’s (Part 3) The Self Care Edition
When caregiving, you get a frequent reminder from everyone in your midst to “take care of yourself”. It serves up a lukewarm feeling of receiving kindness, mixed with vague well-wishing, garnished with guilt. You must refill your cup, they say. Take care of the caretaker. The clichés seem endless. And at these times, even the suggestion to take care, doesn’t feel nourishing; it just sounds like another elusive demand, another thing you are not doing well enough.
Below are a few of the things that are helpful to me that make life taking care of a parent bearable and I believe keep me on the side of sanity. For what it is worth, if you are on the brink of burnout, I see you. Take these thoughts with a grain of salt and if there’s a morsel here that serves you, take it and leave the rest. If you are in this position, I think you will find that less is more.
Low maintenance suggestions to battle the burnout:
Focus on beauty.
It doesn’t take any extra time, but can lighten a moment that is heavy with grief. Use that extra pretty dish to plate the food. Pick a flower for the kitchen table. Pad the windowsill with nostalgic items like your favorite crystal or picture frame. In fact, create mini alters to Beauty around…
