Being a helping profession, I often time get caught up in meeting the emotional needs of students and parents that I have no time to prioritize self-care. I remembered that I used to go the self-employed route during the pandemic and had ample time for resting. Ample time for the occasional trekking through the lush Singapore nature reserves. Sighting natural animals and flowers were the delight of the day. It was a blessing to be able to tap on some interim welfare resources the government policy had during the heights of the pandemic.
However, with the hum of life returning to what it was before pandemic level where I had to work with groups of students and their parents. Life is no longer filled with ample rest and stay at home mandates to get sufficient self-care. Somehow, I made a decision to go full time as I knew that there is no more governmental policy to support the unemployed or self-employed as it used to be.
The onus falls on me now to decide where self-care comes in as I prioritize my own mental health over my work. It is not easy to hang in there when I actually recovered from a flu after taking that Sabbatical rest on a Sunday. I realized that I could climb out of bed after much sleep and had no valid reason to pay the doctor a visit. Well, before fatigue sets in, I was glad that when I decided to go full time teaching, I had taken two full days of leave next week to daydream and continue my wandering days of being alone in silence and solitude.
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