Self Care Weekend

How Catholic Ecumenism Inspires Introspective Spiritual Health

This semester has been incredibly different than my last. Inundated by change throughout my first semester of college, I was too overwhelmed and too stressed to look beyond my own survival. But this semester, I am more comfortable with my college lifestyle, and as a result, I have created new relationships with a variety of people.

My friendships at school spawn late night conversations, lunches revolving around philosophy, and jokes about academia. I am exhilarated by the depth of knowledge of my peers, and I relish in the new opinions and thoughts of people so different from me.

Amidst this intellectual flourishing, I found myself drowning in my thoughts. In the past few weeks, I have been exhausted by thought and by these relationships. I am so thankful for my friends and for my conversations, but I found myself beholden to these relationships when I needed time to think for myself and by myself.

In response, I decided to have a self care weekend, in which I worked on all of my own ideas - spanning from homework to choreography to spirituality. As much as I want to become a woman for and with others, I realized how intrinsic my own health is to this endeavor.

My ultimate act of self care this semester will happen in three weeks when I become a pilgrim to the Taize monastery in France. I am travelling with my church choir to celebrate self-reflection and spiritual health while working toward world unity through service and song. In my pre-trip reflections, I realized that it is not my job to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders; that is God's role. I merely have to pick up my own little corner.

Looking at the words of Brother Roger, the founder of Taize, one particular quote stood out to me.

"Jesus the Christ came for all, not just for a few. Risen, he is united with every human being without exception. Such is the catholicity of heart God has set within you."

When I take time for myself, God still works through me. Everything I do is for the greater glory of a power so good I cannot even fathom its effect. When I feel as if the burdens of life are too heavy to bear, I do not fear, for I am not alone. The greatest part of this message is wrapped up in the word catholicity, which, in this context, emphasizes the universality of God's love for humankind. 

The answer to "got love?" is always yes.