Exuberant greetings from the road! I am at it again -- driving from the east coast to the west in an unconventional fashion. I bid my beloved Boston adieu and I was off starting 10 days ago. For anyone who hasn't been keeping up, I began driving out to Oregon in 2014 to be able to spend time with my daughter. I was tired of flying out once a year (or less!), for just a week or so, under pressure to have fun.  It's what I call "Disney World Duress". You know, when you go to a

Self-care is a process. It requires practice and dedication if you want to make it stick. Don’t get discouraged if it takes time to make this new concept a part of your life. It will get easier, and you’ll probably find yourself craving your self-care activities so much you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. However, there will inevitably be times that are busier or more stressful when self-care might go by the wayside. If you find that happening, be sure to follow th

In yesterday’s post, we touched on the fact that people, women especially, often feel guilty for spending time and resources on themselves. There are a lot of complex reasons for this within our society including a cultural belief that women can have it all as long as they do it all. As old-fashioned as it might seem, men's roles are frequently still seen as "bread-winners" with no other expected responsibilities. Women, even if they are contributing greatly to the family inc

We often have the wrong idea about self-care. We think we have to earn it and that it has to be expensive. We feel like it’s an unnecessary splurge to do something good for ourselves. It can seem extravagant yet frivolous. Women often feel like they have to "justify" taking care of themselves. It's time to change that mindset. Self-care is fitting, reasonable and appropriate.  Plus, it benefits everyone when we put our own well-being at the forefront. Just like you need to pu

Beneficial habits like self-care often go by the wayside during stressful times. It can be difficult to focus on anything but the bare minimum when life gets hard. The fact is, though, that these are the days when you most need to take care of yourself. One way to have a self-care toolkit to help you out during these instances. Having a list of self-care routines can make it easier for you to implement them when needed. Here are some other tricks to get you through the tough

In yesterday’s blog post, I shared ways to get started with self-care. Creating habits and adding activities to your calendar help increase your chances of sticking with your new routine. Another way to keep things interesting is to treat yourself to things you’ve always wanted to do. Adding new and novel experiences to your self-care routine is like giving yourself a little gift every day. It’s a great way to stay motivated to do things to care for yourself. Pamper Yourself

Like any new habit, adding self-care into your life can seem kind of tricky. You probably wonder how you’ll manage to find time to do anything extra for yourself, let alone how you’ll actually remember to do these things. One of the best ways to get started is to build your activities into predictable parts of your day. In order to make something a habit, it has to happen regularly. Keep reading, and I’ll show you some tricks to making self-care a routine part of your life. M

You’ve probably heard the term “self-care” used a lot lately. It’s become a popular buzzword in the media and in personal development circles. However, you still may be unclear on what it means. While the concept does involve taking care of yourself, it actually goes much deeper. Read on to learn what self-care is, why it matters and how to get started doing it. About Self-Care Self-care covers a whole lot of ground. It involves nurturing your body, mind and spirit. It focuse

Greetings to all of you from Boston. This is the last time I'll be writing from my hometown for the next several months. Next week I begin my annual cross-country drive to southern Oregon. I thought the pandemic would be unsettling, but the recent west coast fires have created a whole other set of concerns. I'll be keeping a close eye on the situation and will keep you all informed on my progress. You can also look for my Facebook videos which I'll be posting along the way. W

A flamboyant Hello to you all! See what I did there? If you read my last blogette, you'll get it. If you didn't, get yo'self over to the site www.BarbaraLCummings.com and check it out. I'd love to know how you're faring these days?! We've been hit with some unseasonable, very cool (as in lower temps, but also pretty awesome) days and nights. Since it's New England, I'm betting on another heat wave before the end of the month. I'm finding it interesting how people are reacting