Self Care – Page 4 – Melissa Schlies

Creativity—Why even Try?

This post was originally slated for March, but then the Pandemic hit. Today, as we begin to open our world back up, it feels like a good time to revisit the topic of Creativity. As now, more than ever, we may need to be creative. A few years ago, Tony and I went to our first Michelin Star restaurant—by accident. We were on our dream trip to Tuscany, and we were late getting back into the town where we were staying. Online, I’d found three possible places for us to eat, but when we went to the first two, there were [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-05-27T12:59:19+00:00May 28th, 2020|Categories: Beauty, Calling, Courage, Creativity, Habit Making, Health, perseverance, Self Care|Comments Off

Three Screen-less Self Care Practices for the Pandemic Weary

Last week, for the first time in months, I went to see three people I love. There were birthdays and graduations to celebrate, so I dropped off gifts at each of their door steps. We kept our distance. Masks were worn. And—it was harder than I thought it would be. Where I expected my visits to be like little reunions, a sadness hung in the air. We couldn’t hug like we normally do. Almost everything we talked about related to how the virus has changed our lives. And being together—at a distance—was good, but strange. We kept our distance. Masks [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-05-27T12:57:24+00:00May 21st, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Practice, Routines, Self Care, Social Distancing|Comments Off

Are You Too Feeling Pandemic Weary?

Over the past few weeks, Tony and I have begun a new, unintentional ritual. Every morning, just as we sit down to pray before starting our day, I look at him. He looks at me. And we say, “It’s another day.” Then at least one of us (usually me), lets out a rather large sigh. Because it’s one more day of social distancing, one more day of shelter in place, and one more day of not knowing how long this will last. And all of this is getting terribly heavy to carry. The worrying about loved ones, the concern over [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-05-15T18:41:01+00:00May 18th, 2020|Categories: Habit Making, Mental Health, perseverance, Self Care, Social Distancing|Comments Off

What To Do When Being At Home Is Hard

A friend of mine once told me that she hates spending too much time at home. When she was growing up, things were bad living with her parents. Home was not a good place to be. So now, as an adult, she’d rather spend her downtime outside of her own home—doing errands or being involved in activities. For her, being home means being still enough for all the hard things of her past to surface. Home is not always our place of comfort. Only now, that is where many of us are. We’re working from home or our jobs have [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-06T12:33:07+00:00April 6th, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Conflict, Depression, Health, Hope, Mental Health, Self Care, Social Distancing|2 Comments

What if We’re Homebound Because of COVID-19?

Hello Friends, this post was written very early in the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, its implications and our understanding of them, have only grown. All that to say, there is so much this post doesn’t address (the loss of jobs, the stress on hospitals, etc.). But as many of us continue to practice social distancing, the spirit of this piece still stands. Just when we thought the world couldn’t get any crazier, a flu-like virus is shutting down entire countries and giving almost 300 million students an unexpected, scary spring break. Companies are asking employees to work from home, or at minimum, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-24T16:03:48+00:00March 16th, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Creativity, Fear, Health, Hope, Mental Health, Preparation, Self Care|Comments Off

Five Important Lessons I’m Learning About Friendship

Have you ever been to a school dance or wedding reception, where the DJ was really good? Where not only did they have a phenomenal playlist, but they also had fantastic transitions from song to song? When this happens, the music literally doesn’t stop, and neither does the dancing. Sometimes, I wish it was like this with friendships. Similar to the way a DJ smoothly changes from one song to the next, I wish our friends would move in and out of our lives just as seamlessly. Ok, truthfully: I wish some friendships would never end. Period. But because people [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-27T11:56:27+00:00February 27th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Friendship, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Relationships, Self Care|Comments Off

A Single Person’s Bucket List

When I was in college, a relationship expert came to speak at our Chapel* one day. As the historical joke/motto for our school was to expect "a ring by spring” if you were dating someone, it seemed fitting. Though I went to college for my education (and maybe, to meet a boyfriend), many of my peers were already looking for a spouse. During the talk, the expert encouraged us to do something I’d never heard before: to write a list of the characteristics we wanted in the person we’d marry. To think long and hard about the qualities we wanted [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-06T15:39:52+00:00February 10th, 2020|Categories: Fear, Freedom, Hope, perseverance, Relationships, Self Care|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead November 21, 2019

Friends, it is hard to believe we are closing in on Thanksgiving already. A week from today, we will be with friends and family, eating turkey and pie. Then, a week from tomorrow, the countdown to Christmas will begin. For many of us, I know, our schedules have already begun to pick up before the Holidays. With all the busyness, in some ways, I felt a little crazy to talk about self care on the blog this month. But if you have stayed with me on this journey, I hope you have felt valued and maybe even, you’re taking me [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-20T20:02:50+00:00November 21st, 2019|Categories: Balance, discipline, Good Books, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Routines, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

An Open Letter to All My Fellow People Pleasers

Dear friends, I have a feeling there are more of us than we realize. “Us” being anyone who has spent more time making other people happy, than they have spent thinking about their own happiness. Or anyone who has felt it’s more trouble to speak up for oneself than it is to suffer the consequences. Chances are, you are one of “us,” if you’ve ever: Agreed to doing more than you can handle for a Holiday dinner, event, or party. Heard your boss say that you didn’t get time off for the Holiday because you were the only one who [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-13T16:33:05+00:00November 18th, 2019|Categories: Balance, Christmas, Conflict, Freedom, Health, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Three Ways to Practice Self Care This Holiday Season

“Self-comfort numbs us, weakens us, hides us; it can be soporific. But self-care awakens us, strengthens us, and emboldens us to rise.” —Sarah Bessey Ever since I read these words from Sarah, in her latest book, Miracles and Other Reasonable Things, they’ve lingered in my mind. So much so that I am sharing them here on the blog for the second time this month. Never have I heard someone so clearly delineate the difference between self-comfort and self-care. For much of my life, I’ve engaged in self-comfort, while believing self-care was selfish. Only I didn’t realize the damage all my [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-13T16:07:49+00:00November 14th, 2019|Categories: Balance, Christmas, discipline, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love Learn Lead, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Creativity—Why even Try?

What if We’re Homebound Because of COVID-19?

Five Important Lessons I’m Learning About Friendship

A Single Person’s Bucket List

Love Learn Lead November 21, 2019

An Open Letter to All My Fellow People Pleasers

Three Ways to Practice Self Care This Holiday Season

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