What’s your version of self care?

You know that phrase “self-care”? You hear it everywhere. And to be honest, it annoys me.  Why?

Because so much of the advice around it seems to be of the “attend this eye – wateringly expensive yoga retreat and melt your stress away” variety.

Don’t get me wrong. There is definitely a space for that (well, perhaps not the eye-wateringly expensive part) but there is so much more to this idea of self – care.

My main source of self – care (though I don’t think I have ever called it that) is reading. It has been all my life. And yes, there are times when I have read a lot less, and times when I have read loads, but books permeate my world.

When I am lost within the story, invested in the characters and what happens to them, that is when I forget my troubles. My heart rate slows, muscles relax and there is no space to worry about myself.

But we all know that time pressures and other pulls on our energies can make it difficult to even find the books we want to read. It’s a sad fact that publisher marketing budgets are not evenly split between all their authors. In fact, you’d be surprised how much of the budget is allocated to a few top titles, the rest left to just get on with it. And that means that there are so many incredible books you may never get to hear about.

So, I thought, there must be other women like me for whom reading is so important. But perhaps they don’t ever have the time to search out new titles? To discover new authors and genres.

What if I were to do that work for them? Discover female authors who may have been missed or aren’t in the top 10 on the supermarket shelf. And put them in a box and add a few of those lovely products that can make us feel special – luxury hand cream, or organic artisan chocolate perhaps – things you may not buy for yourself on a regular basis.

What if I created a recipe for self- care in a box?

And if you’ve paid for it and it arrives in the post then you have to find the time to read and enjoy it don’t you? It would be a waste otherwise. It would encourage women to take that valuable time for themselves.

And that’s how The Real MEE Box came about.

The important thing is that women DO make the time to do what replenishes them. To put themselves first as often as possible, something we often find extremely hard to do. Let go of the guilt and realise that you being a calmer more relaxed, healthier person makes life for those around you better too.

And in the spirit of making thing easier for you, have you downloaded my FREE “What shall I read next?” guide to other female authors you may like?