Reclaiming my time

I love Wimbledon season. I slow myself down and I enjoy the tennis. Loved that Federer won, though had Nadal and my girl Venus won, I would have been in heaven.

Then I found myself busy working on an eCourse. The more that I work on it, the more I want to work on it. And so my blog and my online habit has been nudged aside. I realise that I need to be better with scheduling my time. I am improving on that all the time and what it’s showing me is that actually, I am more likely to have the calm and quiet times that I enjoy.

I currently ensconced in front of the World Championships on the television. Just being still – though when Usain runs, I will lose all of that calm.

Self care is a very important part of doulaing. Doulas often forget to truly look after themselves, particularly if their client is going through a difficult labour. Yet it is a very important part of our practise. We can’t neglect ourselves and give our best to the families that we support. Remember what they tell you on the aeroplanes? ‘Put YOUR oxygen mask on first’. We are no good if we are not good to ourselves. Yes, we can still support our clients. Yes, we can still come through long labours with our clients. The cost to ourselves is counted afterwards. Too many burn out and walk away from doulaing because they feel it sucked their souls.

Watching Senator Maxine Waters hold her ground when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wouldn’t answer her question was inspirational. She did not get angry, so she could be accused of being ‘an angry black woman’, she wasn’t rude. She simply called on procedure. ‘Reclaiming my time’, she said as Mnuchin tried to waste time with compliments and ‘innocent’ questions to the House Financial Services Committee.

Such an inspiration. The woman who refused to take the crap. Who stood, stood some more and stood again. And now she’s reminded me, time to reclaim my time. The time that I gave away working for an organisation that didn’t value me. Working with people who I thought had my back. But this isn’t about that, and it’s not about them. This is about me reclaiming my time. Knowing what it is that I want of the birth world. Not fame and fortune (though who in their right mind says no to fortune). What I want to see is a community of doulas that rise. Doulas who represent and support their communities and look like the women that they support.

So, I’m heading back to the eCourse I’m creating and I’m looking forward to seeing the people that come to my Abuela Doula Preparation courses. This Autumn they’ll be in Birmingham, London and Seaford. Why not find out some more and come join us