The Season of Stress is upon us! When my children were growing up, how many holiday seasons did I get wound up to the point of breaking? Every one!
Back then, self-care wasn’t a “thing.” We all just stressed our way merrily through the holidays.
Thank goodness, the importance of self-care and wellness have been popularized. Now articles, shows and podcasts offer constant encouragement to take care of ourselves.
For a while, things were sweet and simple. Self-care was just about taking a little time for yourself, luxuriating in a bubble bath, getting lost in an engrossing novel, sneaking into a matinee, going out for an afternoon cup of tea, i.e., doing things that cost nothing or next to nothing.
Hijacked But then a funny thing happened in the world of self-care. Marketers smelled money and they went right to work: Why should we settle for a mere bubble bath when we could have massages, facials and body wraps at a spa? Or why shouldn’t we splurge on a whole weekend retreat? Or why not buy more things, like a home sauna, some special detox mud, a luxurious robe and fuzzy slippers?
Rina Raphael’s The Gospel of Wellness brought this marketing game to light. You catch her perspective pretty quickly from the book’s subtitle, “Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care.”
Raphael documents how the wholesome idea of self-care has been amped up into a $4.4 trillion industry. Marketers have morphed the worthy goal of wellness into a reason to buy more stuff for millions of (mostly) women: Spa days, designer water, facial masks, meditation retreats, vitamin IV drips, fitness studio memberships, and so on.
A Cautionary Tale Not that there’s anything wrong or bad about any of these things. But caution is warranted, especially when you’re in a vulnerable holiday stress spot.
First, all things marketing call for a pause. Marketing is designed to make us buy without thinking. Instead, pause and consider the time and stress required to, e.g., book a spa appointment, drive there, arrive on time, pay for it on top of an already-stretched holiday budget, and then get home in time for your next engagement! Would it be a lot less stressful and more self-caring to opt for the luxurious bubble bath in your own bathroom with some soft music and a couple candles?
Second, pause and observe how marketers can hijack a simple, sensible idea, harnessing it to make us shell out for products and services which may or may not actually deliver. In this case, we are promised self-care, but the same marketing game is used to promise flawless skin, stellar health, a gorgeously toned body, an exciting vacation, instant weight loss . . ..
We’ve gotta be smarter than the marketers if we are to survive and thrive healthfully in today’s hyper-marketing world.
Choices I had a joyous experience of self-care when I started re-framing the holidays about a decade ago. It struck me that they fall around the solstice, the darkest part of the year, when the rest of creation is resting and reflecting. What was I doing running around like a mad dog?!!
Now I minimize all the gifting, partying, decorating and rushing and running around. I take time to rest, feel the tranquility of the natural world, spend quality time with friends and family and, of course, make deeply nourishing meals. (Can I add that gifting yourself nourishing meals, prepared without rushing, is one of the best self-care presents!)
I’ve learned I have more choices than the marketing world would have me believe. And very often the free–or close to free–choices are the best!