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Self-care is a trending phrase and life choice that many people choose to participate in, designed to create a healthy environment for one’s self to deal with various factors within their lives.
Personally, I think self-care is a healthy practice, but for people in our industry, it may look drastically different compared to others. Advice or health blogs suggest self-care steps such as sleep when you are tired, meditate daily, meal prep, exercise for an hour every day, eat right, and more.
All great ideas, but not always plausible for people in our industry. How can we practice self-care when working extremely long hours, living off buses, jumping from show to show, meeting recording deadlines, and more? Here are some ideas that you can tailor into your daily self-care routine or develop one with.
Start your day off with a large glass of water. Easy to do wherever you are and a healthy first step to any day to get you started on the right foot.
Already know your day is going to be long with limited breaks. Grab a few of your favorite snacks, preventing yourself from getting hangry and something you can look forward to in your busy day.
It doesn’t have to be an hour; it can be 10 minutes. Challenge your coworkers to a plank challenge. Develop a 15-minute routine you can do anywhere consisting of pushups, sit-ups, squats, and jumping jacks.
A favorite shirt, shoes, socks, or even your favorite necklace. Wear it. Frequently we wear black, and that’s ok, but no one says you can’t wear a cute pair of earrings with your black clothes. Wear something you enjoy and do it for you.
When your day is done, instead of streaming social media until you fall asleep, write about your day. Journal your thoughts and feelings, let some of the bottled-up emotions out, leave it on paper, and then move forward.
It’s OK to take a minute for yourself even on an extremely hectic day. Step away, regain your thoughts, make an action plan, and move forward. In the long run, taking that moment can help you so much more than not. If you absolutely can’t do this, then find someone who can help you. Send them for your favorite drink or to grab a plate from catering for you. Take that moment to make the rest of the day better.
We tend to be hard on ourselves and even worse on tough days. Change your inner voice and speak positively to yourself. Work on developing a new perspective to notice positive things first, then address the negative things striving to make them positive.
If you are continually running into an issue as you jump from show to show or recording session, instead of spending 10 minutes temporarily fixing it only to do it again tomorrow, take that hour to permanently fix it. This will save you frustration and annoyance each day and is self-care. Finding permanent solutions to daily issues makes it easier and is a benefit to you every day. This frees up time and energy for anything else that may pop up or could actually allow for you to take that deserved break.
If you find you cannot fit in any or enough self-care steps every day, then make sure to set aside a day or two for yourself each month. Take yourself on a movie date, shut off all electronics for a day, read something for fun, cook for yourself. Find something you enjoy that provides satisfaction and do it. Taking care of yourself means you will be able to continue taking care of everything, and everyone else you encounter each day. Self-care will look and feel differently for everyone. Find 2-3 things for you, so you can handle our crazy industry a little bit better every day.
Article by SoundGirl: Heather Holm
Another great article by SoundGirls: Packing Tips: Living Out of a Big Fat Suitcase
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The mission of SoundGirls.org is to inspire and empower the next generation of women in audio. Our mission is to create a supportive community for women in audio and music production, providing the tools, knowledge, and support to further their careers. SoundGirls.Org was formed in 2013 by veteran live sound engineers Karrie Keyes and Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato and operates under the Fiscal Sponsorship of The California Women’s Music Festival, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In 2012, Karrie and Michelle participated in the “Women of Professional Concert Sound” panel at the AES Conference in San Francisco. The panel was hosted by the Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) and moderated by WAM founder Terri Winston. Terri brought together five women working in live and broadcast audio. The groundbreaking panel (which also included Jeri Palumbo, Claudia Engelhart and Deanne Franklin), provided young women and men a glimpse into life on the road, tips and advice, and a Q & A with the panelists. More importantly though, was how incredibly powerful the experience was for the panelists. We had all been in the business for 20 years or more, yet most of us had never met before that day and within minutes we bonded like long-lost sisters. We were struck by how similar our experiences, work ethics, and passions were and wondered why our paths had never crossed and how our careers would have been different had we been there to support each other through the years. Each of us are strong on our own, but together we were even stronger and a powerful force. We were empowered. Each of us had been asked hundreds of times in our careers: Are there other women doing sound? How did you get into sound? How would a young woman go about getting into sound? Through creating SoundGirls.Org, we hope to establish a place for women working in professional audio to come for support and advice, to share our success and failures, our joys and frustrations, and for empowerment and inspiration.
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