The Renfrew Conference was this past weekend. It was great to reconnect with other professionals and dive into discussions about how we can best help individuals with their recovery. Our Program’s Occupational Therapist, Amy Ethridge, and I presented a workshop on “Working Towards Recovery and Balance: Introducing an Occupational Therapy Perspective into Treatment”. Two thoughts relating to that workshop seem important for this week’s blog.
First, a large portion of the workshop focused on finding balance in our lives. Three areas of our lives need to be in balance—self care, work and leisure. Amy had a great visual of a pyramid demonstrating balance. I have already used that in another talk because I think it is so important. In a large triangle, two smaller triangles sit side by side. These are work and leisure. These activities have to be balanced in our lives. It may not mean that exact amounts of time are devoted to each, but that we need to craft space in our lives for leisure. What is leisure? It is things that you want to do. Work is what you have to do. Now it is ideal, obviously, if you can enjoy your work and want to do it, but that still does not take the place of finding time to just do what you enjoy. Yet at the top of the large triangle is self-care. As Amy describes it, nothing at the bottom matters if you are not pursing the self-care portion at the top. Think about this. How can you perform well at work or enjoy your leisure activities if you are not taking care of yourself.
Second, when I was talking with Amy about the presentation, she admitted to being a little nervous. She described that one thing that helped her was when I mentioned that fear and excitement are two sides of the same emotion. The same physical symptoms which form the crux of excitement, heart racing, hard to catch your breath, also form the crux of fear. It is how we interpret these feelings that make the difference. So when Amy started to feel nervous, she just told herself, “I’m feeling excited!” And she did a great job!
So…
- First, do you have balance in your life? Journal about the three areas of your life and your reactions to them. How is self-care going? Work? Leisure? Maybe draw a picture about these different aspects of your life. Or cut out images from magazines that you think represent the ideal of self-care, work and leisure. Now journal your thoughts. What expectations or misconceptions do you have related to these activities? Sometimes we hold unreasonable standards that we measure ourselves against. If our image of leisure is floating on a yacht, it may be hard to appreciate the enjoyment of a hot bubble bath. But if we recognize what expectations are holding us back, then we can face them. That yacht life carries its own difficulties. We don’t even know sometimes what might be hidden within another’s story. And images in magazines aren’t real—they are just stories. What stories are holding you back from finding balance?
- Take the stories of your life or what you tell yourself and work to recreate them. That bubble bath that we just talked about—instead of it being less than what you would want, can you view it as a moment for yourself? Is there a way to look at things within your life and shift the perspective that you are taking on them. You may need to journal first to discover your thoughts. Then journal to discover the other side. Fear and excitement can feel the same, but are different depending on how you view them. Can recovery be an adventure—a new life rather than focusing on what is being lost or given up? Can you view the discovery and potential? And when you feel that flutter of fear, just tell yourself, “I’m not afraid, I’m excited!” As Amy said, by the morning of the program, she was feeling “really excited”. Isn’t that a better view of the emotion than feeling really afraid? Recovery can be exciting!
Go on now, Go, Write On!
Martha Peaslee Levine, M.D.
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