This past week, the topic of self-care came up a few times in our sessions. I realized and appreciated the importance of self-care more than ever before this week. It is crucial for peace-builders to incorporate self-care into their routines due to the intense nature of this work. Again, needless to say, the second week was a very intense week for most of us that left us angry, upset, confused and frustrated. For many of us, the field visits provoked personal experiences.

Another interesting topic that came up in our discussion of self-care, was how self-care is extremely personal and it is different for everyone. As we experience events differently, we also deal with them differently. One might find peace in being around people and friends, others might find that peace by being alone in their rooms or being around their close family members. 

What I hadn’t realized is that we all don’t have this privilege to leave off and do what we have to do to take care of ourselves. Be it going on a trip, or enjoying a quiet moment. And it is crazy that we all can find ourselves in such situations that we are not able to do the simplest things to take care of ourselves.And this has left me puzzled. What is important and what is a priority? How much can we put up with and where do we draw the line? How do we work with our emotions and fragility? At times how do we postpone our self-care for when we don’t have the privilege to leave off? Should we postpone at all?