The Paradox of Self Care
If I had a tagline, it would be “please, take care of yourself.” It’s something that everyone says to each other, but something no one seems to follow. Amidst the stressors of police brutality, immigration restrictions, and COVID-19, taking care of ourselves has become more important than ever, and something we ought to focus on in the weeks ahead.
Self-care represents the ways we take care of ourselves: getting enough sleep, exercising, eating well, and setting limits on our work. Too often, however, we prioritize our work over our own health because of the hyper-capitalist, productivity-oriented spaces we find ourselves in. Emma Seppälä, the Science Director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism, observed that elite universities and workplaces “often reward us for pushing ourselves past our limits.” As a result, we’ve created an unhealthy and unsustainable stress Olympics, culminating in Sam Fox students transforming their studios into sleeping quarters and pre-meds proudly proclaiming how they pulled their third all-nighter of the week.
This pressure cooker culture is already taking a toll on us. Between 2009 and 2014, the growth in counseling center appointments at American universities rose six times faster than institutional enrollment, with the top reported concerns being anxiety and depression. The American Psychological Association reports that the spike of mental illnesses on college campuses is a result of the pressures students are facing, amplified by every LinkedIn account we stalk and every accomplishment we aspire to gain—and trends indicate the problem is only going to get worse.
If we don’t seriously reflect on this crisis soon, we risk propagating the same culture of unsustainable work habits into our adult lives. In South Korea, where workers are the most stressed in the OECD countries, young people have “given up on dating, marriage, and children,” work 240 more hours a year than American workers, and suffer the highest rates of suicide in the OECD. In Japan, the culture of overworking has led to a problem with kuroshi, meaning “death from overwork.” These workplace expectations are the extension of students who burn the candle at both ends, and who are taught their value and meaning in life comes from how many hours they work and how much money they earn.
Beyond corporate productivity, the same principles apply—if not more so—to the activists who are working hard in our community to raise awareness for topics ranging from systemic racism to the war in Yemen. Shandre Delaney, a prison abolitionist, described activism as “a constant, on-call duty that is hard to separate from without feeling neglectful.”
With the time freed up by COVID-19, we can meaningfully reflect on how we can find balance in life, draw boundaries, and define ourselves by more than what we produce.
I know the feeling of guilt after taking a break, but posting, learning, and educating others constantly is a daunting and draining task, and an unfair burden to place on any one person. The work you do is deeply meaningful, but please don’t forget to allow yourself to rest and engage in self-care. In the words of Audre Lorde, “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Don’t stop protesting and fighting for justice, but also don’t lose sight of preserving your own happiness, sanity, and joy.
We have the opportunity now to reflect on the culture of overworking at Wash U and committing to stop burnout. With the time freed up by COVID-19, we can meaningfully reflect on how we can find balance in life, draw boundaries, and define ourselves by more than what we produce. As somebody who spent all of high school (and a good part of my first year) working in pursuit of the next project, I know this is easier said than done. But now, I’m finding time to exercise, eating three meals a day, and spending time calling my friends. Whether your self-care is meditation, comfort food, or Animal Crossing, I implore you to indulge in those simple pleasures. In my own words: please take care of yourself.