Field Trip: Yellow Co. Tour Stop in Seattle (and some thoughts on Self Care)

Yesterday Samantha and I had the great fun of attending the Seattle stop of the Yellow Co. Tour. The thing that made me really want to attend (besides the incredible speaker they had lined up!) was the fact that one of the creators of the organization, Joanna Waterfall is someone I had met years ago at a blogging conference. It just felt like a sign that we should go!

The Yellow Co. is an organization that is all about empowering women to figuring out how to make their purpose match their passions. This tour stop theme was self care. I'm all about this topic and was happy to hear what the different women had to say about it. 

First up was Moorea Seal, a woman for whom my admiration grows every time I'm around her. She shares openly and vulnerably in an age of trolls and criticism and has no fear of speaking passionately about the things she cares about. She spoke eloquently on making sure that while we pursue a career we are passionate about, that we take care of the personal. 

Next up were two women that I follow on instagram and it was wonderful to see them in real life. Brandy Brown, of Marabou Design answered questions along with Deborah Shepherd of The Broke Minimalist. They had a lot to say about having a business, setting boundaries, and taking care of yourself in the process. 

Molly Moon was next up and she took to the stage with her sweet baby Odessa in arms. This was my first time hearing her speak and I was so taken with her smarts, drive to make a difference, mixed with a love of connection. She was funny and wise and I hope to see her speak again in the future. 

The speakers ended with Joanna interviewing Sharon Lee of the Low Income Housing Institute, the "Do Good" Partner of the tour. She shared about the Tiny housing project she is a part of to help with the homeless crisis in Seattle, and shared about her journey in getting to this point. She also had some things to say about self care! 

I thought it would be easiest to summarize everyone's thoughts on self-care to talk about them. 

Moorea Seal - Occasionally it means therapy. Journaling. Working on self thru goals and self-reflection. 
Brandy Brown - Time with friends. And occasionally just time doing nothing. 
Deborah Shepherd - Meditation. Prayer. Journaling 
Molly Moon - The occasional massage. Visits to the "naked spa" (The Korean Spa in Lynnwood)
Sharon Lee - Swimming in the many different pools of Seattle. Getting a massage. Dim Sum.

I just wanted to put all the different responses together to show the variety. I have a concern that "self-care" is going to become another thing that we start to see on instagram along with the gorgeous bath setting and the candle, the bath salts and the perfect shot. And it's great to see all these gorgeous shots. What I hope we don't do is compare and shame ourselves about our own care. I had a conversation about this with Moorea before she spoke and we both agreed that sometimes self-care looked like McDonalds fries and three hours of Netflix, something you probably wouldn't see a post about. And it's okay. Whatever works for you is self care. 

I just want to encourage you to take care of yourself how you see fit. Wether it's moving your body, getting a massage, or just sitting still in your car before picking up your kids. It's just important to do it. Whatever it looks like. On Saturday after the conference for me it looked like a cone from Molly Moon. Today it looked like a barre3 class. What does self care look like for you?