"Taking Care" by Debbie Styer 2013

A few months back, I heard that Michelle Ward and Jessica Swift were doing a blog tour for their brand spanking new book, "The Declaration of You". Woo Hoo! I was so excited for them! With all the amazing changes that have happen in my life in the past couple of years I just knew that I wanted to be part of this blog tour.

This might be a bit personal but a couple of years ago, I took part in "The Declaration of You" e-course. It was so amazing. I learned so much about myself and just who I wanted to be. One of the most life altering sections for me was, "Self Care". I knew that without taking better care of myself, I would never be able to, well, "take care of business".

I'm sure that we all try to take good care of ourselves. We know what we should do, simply be kind to yourself. It should be that easy, right? Like everyone, I have cabinets full of lovely herbal teas to drink and tell myself I really need to start meditating, and relaxing more. I try to work out more (even a little bit helps) but sometimes the lack of time or energy zaps away my progress. I suppose, the important thing is I've tried, right? Little by little, I've seen the changes and they're good. And Yes, I'm still working on being healthier and less stressed. I think I am improving, but it is a ongoing process. It helps to remind myself daily to count my blessings and am so thankful for great friends and family especially my amazing husband.

But deep down in my heart, when I talk about self care I suppose I'm talking about something more than "don't forget to smell the roses". I'm talking about self love. It was something I had a bit of a disconnect with myself for much of my life. When I quit my stable but extremely dead end job nearly 3 years ago, I was very hard on myself. I was feeling pretty old (39) to be starting a new career. I was scared to death to make any wrong moves with my art. And honestly, I was really mad at myself for not starting earlier in my life. There was so much to learn and I thought I could never catch up.

So, I started the e-course. I wasn't sure what to expect but I did know that Michelle and Jessica had great positive attitudes. Before long they got me writing out all of these pent up feeling I had about myself. At first it was pretty depressing the amount of self loathing one gets when you let yourself go there. But after you look at it from a distance, it's not so scary. I kept kicking myself for not getting my work out to the world faster. I had so many regrets. I guess, I was a little lost in what my next steps would be. I found that by doing the work, something changed. I started looking at these issues as just stupid excuses (it's pretty amazing how much writing it all down helps, don't you think?)...and I was done feeling sorry for myself. So, incredible done....

I stopped looking at myself as this underachiever and someone that wasn't enough. I cried a lot too. What an epiphany! I was done with the guilt! Suddenly, I saw that I was talented, a true artist and indeed I was ready to share my art with the world...

And it happened, a few months after "The Declaration of You" course ended, I opened my first Etsy shop. Things changed, I truly began to take that self care/self love more seriously. As an artist, I have grown so much. I'm even working on my first book! And you know what? I'm truly proud of the work I've done in the last couple of years and although there are still mountains to climb as far as a career goes, I feel a little less heavy these days. I feel happy and truly understand the need for deep self care.

And when you take care of yourself, and love who you are and what you do, you can bring amazing things (and businesses) to the world...

So take it from me, this book, which was modeled after the amazing e-course, will be truly inspiring. Michelle and Jessica know how to ask the right questions to help get you closer to the person you always imagined you could be. I highly recommend it.

Here's a little bit from Michelle & Jessica themselves...

The Declaration of You: The Book! from Pierre François Frédéric on Vimeo.

The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they’ve craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You’s Blog Lovin’ Tour, which I’m thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more – and join us! – by clicking here.”

Join the Discussion: What have you learned from practicing more SELF CARE? What would you like to learn? What are you doing to treat yourself with loving kindness?

Writing about The Girl Effect really makes me appreciate my freedom. As a middle class, educated, white woman from a nice small town I had all the advantages in my life. I went to a good public school, took art classes, was in show choir and chorus. I left home and moved to the big city to go to art school. I learned, I laughed and I tried my hand at love. The world was open to me and I could choose to be anyone I wanted (well, at least to a certain degree).

When I look around at the world I know some girls just are not as lucky as I am. They don't get the freedom to enjoy their lives as others do. They are forced into the role of mother and wife as soon as their body allows it. Some of these girls are as young as 12 when they are married off to men they didn't choose. And I wonder how can they be happy?

So what makes these girls different from you and me? Not much, except the place and the circumstances in which they were born. Do they not want something more from their lives? Well, of course they do. But society and tradition has told their parents girls aren't worth educating. They have too much work to do to waste on anything as silly as education for girls. This need to change.

Allowing these girls to become educated young women before they are mothers would make a huge difference in the world and the town they live in. Imagine a world were woman were strong and they could take care of themselves and each other. They wouldn't be stuck in their lives as they are now. They could work outside the home and have careers. They could have the seemingly simple freedom to live the normal dramatic teenage life without the worrying if their children are safe at every moment.

These girls not only need a change, they need a revolution. The Revolution is not only for the girls themselves but the whole world. People need to know that these injustices are still going on. We bloggers are trying to change that, we are trying to get the word out about the reality of the others' lives. We need to show some humanity and some humility in pointing out how others live and trying to do something about it. And we have to do it with respect to all those involved with the changes or it won't work! Most importantly, we must remember to ask these girls themselves, "What do you want?" "How can we help YOU?", because it might be different from what we imagine.

So what can you? First you can learn the truth about the struggles of these girls. Talk about it, write about it. Give some money if you can.

What am I doing? I created this illustration. I am listing it in my Etsy shop and 25% of the proceeds will go directly to The Girl Effect. It may be a little thing but to me, if everyone does just one thing...it will add up. And we can make a difference.

Raising Hands by bluehour studio

So what will you do?

To get a my Raising Hands (for The Girl Effect) Print click here.

This post is part of a week long Girl Effect Blogging Campaign. It was started by the wonderful Tara Sophia Mohr after she learned about The Girl Effect last year. She simply asked other bloggers to spread the word. Check out what other bloggers have written about the girl effect here. If you are moved. Write something in your blog and keep the movement going.

Hello!

Thank you all for stopping by! Find out more about me and what I do here.