Essence Magazine and Johnson & Johnson Brings Path to Power: Lessons in Self-Care.

Two brands that we trust when it comes to quality came together and created a panel of women who spoke about the importance of “self-care”. We’ve all heard the term “self-care” before but how many of us really practice the routines and rituals that make self-care necessary. I’m guilty of not always caring for myself the best ways I should. I’ve had to learn the hard way that I have to really have to put on my oxygen mask first. If I don’t care for myself then I cannot care for the ones that I love. As women, there is so much that we are in charge of caring for. We are in charge of taking care of children, spouses, siblings, grandparents, parents, work, friends, you get the message… In all that we do it can be difficult to take the time to care for self but time and time again we learn that we must take the time to care for our mental, emotional and physical well-being.

The message that most resonated with me that evening came from the Chief Diversity Officer at Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Wanda Bryant Hope. She imparted that her most important self-care routine is to ask for help. As a mother and a woman in the workforce I rely on help from family and friends on a daily basis. It is how I keep my family and my life going. No man is an island and no woman is an island either. I had a difficult time asking for help after I had my daughter but learned quickly that this cannot be done solo (and by solo I mean just my husband and I. We are a unit). We have to rely on loved ones and others in our tribe who we trust in order to make our family and our lives work. I also find comfort in the thought that my daughter is surrounded by people who love her and she knows that she is a part of a community of care givers.