40-Seconds of Self-care

For the past couple of days I, along with a small group of like-minded individuals, have been taking training to be better partners for our public safety family. Specifically, we are learning how to help emergency responders cope during crisis events.

This may surprise some people, but those of us in the public safety world are different. We run into hazardous situations while most people run out. We see more tragedy in a brief amount of time than “normal” people may see in a lifetime. We also tend to neglect ourselves - physically and emotionally. Physical and emotional care go hand in hand. Each affects the other and too often neither is a priority for a responder - either by choice or demands.

One element of our training these past two days has been self-care. Yesterday we were asked what we were going to do last night for self-care. My answer - attend an important EMS meeting (no self-care). Today we were asked what we planned for self-care tonight - mine was teach an emergency preparedness class (no self-care). Do you see a trend? I am guilty of self-neglect again - and too often.

For my self-care time in the outdoors either hiking or paddling with a camera nearby are most certainly my preferred option. As I explained to the group today, whether I spend 5-minutes or 5-hours looking through a camera lens, I am not spending that time thinking about something stressful, gruesome or political. During that “lens time” I am lost in whatever is in front of me - a bird, a snake, or maybe a landscape composition. Whatever it is, my mind is taken away.

I have already admitted that my self-care for yesterday and today was poor. My schedule is full and there are too few hours. But, I did get to spend about 40-seconds watching this adult bald eagle on the top of a tree. I noticed how the bird was mature, how its weight was folding the uppermost sprig over, how the bird appeared majestic with a blue sky background, and how the eagle was eye-balling the little white dog with soft fluffy hair and oblivious to the avian threat overhead. For less than a minute I did not think about anything that caused my pulse to increase - no trauma thoughts, nothing to deal with illness, and no thoughts of the negative political atmosphere that is running rampant on all levels. Nope, it was just me and this bird for 40-seconds and I am a better person for it!