Book Review: Selfcarefully
Selfcarefully, by Gracy Obuchowicz, illustrated and designed by Maria Habib, Thick Press, 2019, ISBN: 978-1732066618, 84 pages, $20.00.
Attention to self-care is growing. Unfortunately, some of that attention is superficial and even misleading. However, more wholistic approaches are emerging. These approaches promote self-care as an essential lifestyle and ethical professional commitment—not optional extras. As with any professional development, professionals need to use resources to build wholistic self-care.
Selfcarefully is a delightful resource! Notably, the publisher, Thick Press, is a project of Erin Segal, a social worker, and Julie Cho, a graphic designer—with a mission to “midwife unusual books about care work and the work of care.” Engaging and accessible, the book’s format of bite-sized (1-2 pages) entries makes it an easy read. Yet, the depth of the content is meaningful. Obuchowicz’s writing style is complemented by Habib’s lovely illustrations, which visually draw the reader into individual entries and serve as a coordinating thread.
Obuchowicz’s writing style is collegial, compassionate, and relatable. One can easily imagine having a cup of tea with her, while immersed in discussing self-care. Or, more likely, riding on the bus alongside her. She begins the book describing her process. She shares that she committed to the project when her son was four months old. Consumed by new motherhood, she found her only time for writing was while commuting on the Metro bus.
She says this writing process is a metaphor of her self-care practice. There is no perfect timing, setting, or scenario for self-care. She writes, “Instead, I’ve found authentic self-care, which is anything but perfect.” She emphasizes that self-care is a “lens” for our lives and a “framework that helps us stay true to our values.”
Obuchowicz compiles a self-care sourcebook that is challenging, realistic, and succinct. The entries cover an array of topics, thus conveying the complex breadth of wholistic self-care. Topics range from foundational micro self-care (such as “bedtime”), to mezzo (such as “friendships”), to macro/meta (such as addressing consumerism, racism, and patriarchy). The author acknowledges a particular influence of Ayurveda—which may not appeal to everyone, but prompted me to take up “tongue-scraping.”
The book ends with a list of selected resources and an addendum of interviews with three “justice-seekers” about their self-care journeys. These additions were compelling, but represent a weakness of the book.
The author shares that she wrote the book in free flow form, using a “checklist” of topics. Although that style has its merits, and the art served as a connector, the reading felt somewhat disjointed at times. The book did not use page numbers and needed more organization around topic areas. Finally, to build on the initial “checklist,” adding discussion and reflection prompts would have engaged readers in further depth.
Certainly, the book contributes to a crucial self-care movement. As Obuchowicz asserts, “...only by creating a collective movement of human beings dedicated to practicing authentic self-care will we ever create a world that values and cares for all people.”
I’m glad I took this Metro bus ride with Gracy and her collaborators. I’ll gratefully place selfcarefully on my shelf of “go-to” books for my ongoing self-care journey. I hope you do, too. See you on the #selfcaremovement bus route!
Reviewed by Erlene Grise-Owens, Partner in The Wellness Group, ETC, and lead co-editor of The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals.
