There’s a strange sort of hum in the air lately, the kind that makes it hard to tell if we’re all running toward something or away from it. The world feels louder, faster, and more fragile than it used to. Every headline, every ping of a phone, every glance at the calendar reminds us that peace doesn’t just happen anymore, it has to be chosen.
And yet, you still deserve quiet.
You deserve mornings where your coffee goes cold because you’ve finally let yourself just sit. You deserve walks without destination, the comfort of your favorite blanket, the sound of creek water tumbling over smooth stones. You deserve to be gentle with yourself, not as a luxury, but as a necessity.
As someone who builds a life around both work and craft — around teaching, making, mothering, and trying to hold it all, I’ve learned that self-care isn’t something we “earn.” It’s the steady breath that makes all the rest possible. It’s how we anchor ourselves when the world feels unpredictable.
Give Yourself Permission to Pause
There’s a quiet kind of courage in slowing down. The courage to say, “Not right now.”
To turn off the news.
To step outside barefoot, even in the cold.
To journal your thoughts without trying to fix them.
To light a candle and let its glow remind you that stillness is not weakness, it’s healing in progress.
Grace isn’t about ignoring the world; it’s about tending to your spirit so you can re-enter it whole.
An Appalachian Approach to Care
In the mountains, we’ve always known that the land heals in cycles, that rest is as vital as bloom. Maybe self-care is less about escape and more about remembering how to live like the land: slow, deliberate, and rooted. When we move at that pace, we see the small things again, the way light hits old wood, the smell of pine, the way stillness feels like an exhale after a long climb.
A Challenge for You
This week, find one sacred pause.
Maybe it’s five minutes by a creek. Maybe it’s a quiet journal entry before bed. Maybe it’s a candlelit bath, or a morning where you do nothing but breathe and listen to the world waking up.
Whatever form it takes, give yourself permission to stop chasing productivity and choose presence instead. Because the world will keep spinning, but you don’t have to lose your balance trying to keep up.
Find Stillness. Embrace the Season. Light with Intention.
You are worth your peace.
- Laura, Autumn Laurel & Co.