I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This, But If The Phrase "self Care" Doesn't Resonate With You, Try Calling

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if the phrase "self care" doesn't resonate with you, try calling it "system maintenance" and see if that clicks.

sometimes someone isn’t “toxic,” they’re just “abrasive.” or “mutagenic” or “highly flammable,” and you should always check their material safety data sheet to be sure

"Your father loved you, did he not?’

‘Wot?’ Trev’s face reddened.

‘He loved you, took you to the football, shared a pie with you, taught you to cheer for the Dimmers? Did he hold you on his shoulders so that you could see more of the game?’

‘Stop talkin’ about my dad like that!’

Glenda took Trev’s arm. ‘It’s okay, Trev, it’s all right, it’s not a nasty question, really it isn’t!’

‘But you hate him, because he became a mortal man, dying on the cobbles,’ said Nutt, picking up another undribbled candle.

‘That is nasty,’ said Glenda. Nutt ignored her.

‘He let you down, Mister Trev. He wasn’t the small boy’s god. It turned out that he was only a man.’

Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

JESUS TEA

So it’s Flu Season again, and this recipe for Tea To Fix What Ails You was given to me by a Christian friend, and I’ve taken to calling it JESUS TEA due to it’s miraculous properties.  Even though it, technically, contains no tea.  This tea is as caffinie-free as anything processed in a US plant can get, but be sure to check the provenance and all ingredients in case of allergies.

You will Need:

A Bigass Pot, becuase this is something you make in large quantities

working stovetop

those lil cloth sachets you use for wassail/empty teabags/those lil reuseable loose-leaf tea steepers.

Recipe:

about a quart of water

1 cup apple cider

about half a lemon’s worth of juice

a shitwhack of honey- try to get as local as possible and generally the less-processed the better if you want to build a resistance to local allergens. If you have allergy concerns or don’t like the taste of honey, go ahead and use more processed stuff/another sweetener instead.

three tablespoons/three bags chamomile tea

three tablespoons/three bags rooibos tea

teaspoon crushed cloves

1 cinnamon stick (more if you like it spicier)

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cayenne or white pepper

Bring water to a simmer in the pot.  Add the chamomile, rooibos and spices to steep about 4-5 minutes or longer if you like tea-flavored tar which given you have the flu you probably do.  Add Cider, Lemon Juice and Honey until dissolved.  Drink all of this in the course of an hour to stay hydrated, make more pots as needed or until you pass out. 

FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS: gargle warm salt water first for as long as you can, it’ll break up the mucus in your throat and soothe the soreness.

Artwork by: Gusfink🖤

I have journeyed into the land of submission again and again, and always returned with the realization that no one is better at ruling my life than me. Normally it is a bitter recognition that the person I had hoped to give myself to will never be able to handle the responsibility, or I come up against some instinctual resistance in myself and conclude I was just never suited to it, I'm too certain and large a presence. but sometimes it feels empowering, like it's a reason to claim the reality I have made for myself instead of trying to escape it all the time. Most people have a "Bitch, you live like this???" type existence to me, once I really come to understand it, and that means I'm already in the safest hands. I can handle things better than just about anyone I've ever met, at least in the ways that I'd want to handle them, and my life has been better than all my attempts at my fantasies. It's sad to lose a fantasy, the way you lose the capacity to imagine quite so vividly once you stop being a kid, but with it comes with power to create things in the actual world -- to understand how things truly operate, experiment with cause and effect, and leave one's mark on the planet in a legitimate way, however small. I'm sure I'll always return to the fantasy. It's never left me, it falls all over me every night and I have to drag my way out from under it ever single morning. But sometimes I'm actually relieved to claim the day, where I'm capable, clear-headed, and a person that nobody else could have ever made me into.