We've all heard it: prioritize. Consolidate all the many things that are expected of you by so many people (including yourself), the things you need to do to financially, physically and emotionally survive, and any "me time" you may have left over. I've always thought this was a very smart-sounding, yet impossible, almost silly, piece of advice.
People today, and especially in today's economy, have too much to do. Many are holding down one, two, three and more jobs to meet basic needs. Most are struggling with some type of debt- be it college loans, paying off big purchases like a car or house, or simply lines of credit used for emergencies that haven't seen enough financial surplus after basic needs to be fully paid off yet. I feel that once the requisite amount of time has been spent on addressing these complex monetary concerns, little time is left for the most important tasks on our agenda: self-care.
Therapists hear this over and over. "Take time for yourself. It is no longer a luxury to take time to take care of yourself. You have to take care of yourself," blah blah blah. Not to be pejoritive; this is great advice. The problem is it is absolutely correct, and completely impossible. Well, that's an exaggeration. I guess just mostly impossible. Tell me who has time to just take a nap, write a poem, journal, take a walk or jog, go to a museum, or have coffee with friends with all their other demanding responsibilities.
Let's consider for a moment the unique plight of the working woman. Luckily, in today's increasingly progressive society, there are increasingly more opportunities for women in the work place (varying payscales aside). What still hasn't changed are all of the woman's responsibilities in the home. Granted, there are many wonderful partners out there who split housework with women 50:50. God bless you. However, let's not kid ourselves by saying the classical division of labor between men and women is still the norm. Women are expected to cook, clean, housekeep, and watch the children. Any of us who have had to do these things for ourselves, let alone partners, children and other dependents, know that this is it's own full time job. Back to that woman with the opportunity to pursue her aspirations and career goals. She comes home from a long day at work, where likely she's busted her *ss to stay ahead in her career, and now she has a second shift of gender-specified tasks. Pobrecita.
One more thought on this. We all know the economy is in the crapper (I know, I can be so eloquent), but it is. Maybe it's on its way up again, maybe it's not. Regardless, people are losing their jobs. This brings up an interesting question. Now that women are finally pursuing their careers next to men, who loses their job first when the economy sucks? That question is largely rhetorical.
On the crashing economy- an ironic and sadistic thought. I am supervised as an MA level intern at a domestic violence and sexual assault counseling center. As the economy gets worse, we are seeing a huge spike in clients in our agency (our agency is sliding scale and doesn't charge most of its clients so the money here is not an obstacle for clients). Do you know why? People are home, they have lost their jobs, and they are unhappy. You do the math. The point is, the awful, sadistic point, is that the more the job market crashes, the more a future for me in the counseling profession/population I am working in is secure. Try and sleep on that.
