Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Not as in art restoration, but as in refueling the self.

I had a very busy October, and now I am chilling out a bit, taking some time to listen to music, run, think, and do some yoga (while of course still driving kids to soccer, hockey, doing laundry and cooking meals, I am, after all, still the mother of two active youths but I've decided to let myself off the hook in terms of nonessential chores. My messy basement can remain messy for another month (or year) non? Do I really need to start Christmas shopping? I went to bed at 9pm last night which to me is incredibly decadent and restorative. I really think that there are lots of ways to carve out some restoration time even if you are buried in family demands. You have to start small. As a workshop participant said a few weeks ago: "My goal is to drink an entire cup of coffee from start to finish without being interrupted by family demands!"

I have also decided to book a day off a week from my private practice to finish several writing projects related to Compassion Fatigue Solutions. I will post some more on this in the coming weeks.

Music to accompany restoration: anything by Ben Harper or Jack Johnson will do the job. Amos Lee has a beautiful touching song called "long line of pain" that brought tears to my eyes when I first heard it: "I come from a long line of pain, my family suffered greatly for my gain. (you can buy it from itunes for 99 cents). One would think this would not be a song that takes me away from thoughts related to CF, but for some reason I love the music in that song and his smoky, sultry voice.

Web: Visiting a non-work related site such as "A photo a day from Planet Earth" planetearthdailyphoto.blogspot.com

What do you do to refuel?