Six Ways To Help Look After Yourself Better

by | Jun 18, 2020 | How To | 0 comments

 

Looking after your health is important and there are plenty of ways that you can help yourself so that you feel better mentally but also physically. We only have the one body, and therefore it’s important to make full use of it. Here are six ways to help look after yourself better so that you can live a long and healthy life that’s full of fulfilment.

Recognize Your Body’s Distress And Moods

As we get older, we become more accustomed to our body, and it can be easy to recognize certain things that happen in our body, whether it’s through pain or emotional feelings. We’re more in tune if we allow ourselves to listen to our body when it’s in distress. In order for you to feel better about yourself, it’s important to pay attention to your mood and what might be impacting it on days where you might not be as happy or feeling like your usual self. For example, one way your mood might be affected is by the amount of sleep you have, or perhaps the satisfaction you have with your work life or in your love life. There are several things that could be contributing to it, and it’s important to spot the correlation of these that are affecting your mood. Sometimes, your body might be in distress physically, and it’s something that you feel physically too. It’s good to pay attention to this and to do what you can in order to feel better.

Take A Detox

In order to look after your body and mind properly, sometimes a detox is in order. Whether this is a detox that requires professional help or can be done alone, it’s important to acknowledge when it’s needed. You can always find pet friendly rehabs near me if it’s something that you can’t do alone and there should be no shame or embarrassment for asking for help. Sometimes we need it in those dark times or moments where we struggle. It could be a detox from the digital world after finding that you’re comparing your life to others that you merely see a moment of. It could be a detox from alcohol if you find that your lifestyle is overwhelming your body in this way. There are many types of detoxes that you can take, and so it’s important to know which one is going to be beneficial for you to have.

Make Time For Yourself

We don’t make enough time for ourselves in life for fear of being selfish. It’s important to make time for yourself where you can and to do things that you enjoy, rather than doing things for other people. Not spending enough time making yourself happy is going to result in friendships or family relationships not being the best they can be. You need to be able to focus on yourself first before you give that commitment to other people. Self-care is that word that seems to be thrown around a lot, but it’s important we all pay attention to the self-care we give ourselves currently and how we can improve that. There are lots of things that we could be doing in order to look after ourselves.

Spend Time With Your Loved Ones

Spending time with your loved ones is important because we all need social connections. As humans, it’s ingrained in us and to go without social connection for an extended period of time can certainly have an effect on how we feel. Our mental wellbeing can be affected if we don’t spend enough time with those who bring us joy and our own company can only do so much to keep us satisfied. Try to find ways of connecting with people more on a regular basis and make time for others in your daily life. Whether it’s meeting up with a friend for dinner on a work night or spending the weekend at a family member’s home. It’s all essential in order to help build those relationships and to make them stronger.

The more people you can have around you, the stronger that support network is.

 

Focus On What’s Important

What’s important in life to you? It can differ for everyone, and that’s what makes the world an interesting place. We all prioritize different things in life, whether it’s spending most of your time with your family or using most of the hours in your day to spend working on your career or perhaps a side project? Finding what’s important to you and focusing on it can definitely help to improve your quality of life and what you get out of it. We all take pleasure in different things and so if yours is different from someone else’s, then that’s not a bad thing. Focus on what makes you happy and what you deem to be the more important things in life. It’s going to help you to look back on your life with more happiness, rather than regret. No one wants to have a life that has a lot of regrets!

Cut Out The Negativity

Negativity is something that can be all around us, and we can choose whether to let it fester in our lives or not. There’s negativity in careers and the workplace, and there’s negativity in your personal life and when it comes to other people. It’s important to try and be wary of who in your life might be causing issues or making you feel less happy in yourself. You want people to bring you up, not put you down and that’s not something you should be ashamed or embarrassed to want. If there’s negativity in your life and you have the ability to control it, then it’s certainly time to cut it out.

Looking after yourself is something that you need to prioritize in life, so make it a priority. Whether that’s focusing on your health or what’s most important to you at the moment. Look after your mental wellbeing and cut out any negativity.

In Columbia, Maryland, there’s a former grocery store that has been transformed into a department store for mythical creatures, time travelers, and intergalactic tourists.

It’s called DoodleHATCH.

You can groom a unicorn, visit an intergalactic space station, climb onto a giant’s bed, meet guinea pigs, explore an artist’s studio, and discover approximately a million other things that somebody actually sat down and made.

It’s a nonprofit interactive art museum, a community project, an educational resource, and one of my favorite places I’ve ever discovered.

And it could be demolished as part of a proposed redevelopment of the Long Reach Village Center.

But there’s still an opportunity to help.

You don’t need to donate money. You don’t need to live in Maryland. And you don’t need to know anything about zoning laws.

You can start by writing an email.

🚨 Here's what's happening

Developer Columbia Concepts has proposed redeveloping the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia, Maryland.

The proposal would replace existing buildings with new housing, recreational facilities, and other development.

Unfortunately, that puts a whole collection of existing community resources at risk of being demolished, including:

  • DoodleHATCH Interactive Art Museum
  • Maryland Fashion Institute
  • A makerspace used for community education
  • Local restaurants, shops, and service businesses
  • Early childhood education and community programs
  • A 140-foot-long mural created by approximately 100 community members

This isn’t just about losing a fabulous museum. It’s about losing an entire collection of places that people have built, supported, and relied on.

And there’s another possibility!

🌈 Meet The REALM

Lee Andersen, the founder of DoodleHATCH, and her nonprofit ManneqART want to preserve the existing community resources and transform the village center into an arts and culture destination called The REALM.

Imagine a place where artists have studios, children have room to explore, students can learn creative skills, people can attend performances, and local businesses continue serving their neighbors.

There are plans for a performing arts space, more opportunities for artists, and a Witches Kitchen that might serve you a horrible-disgusting breakfast.

Which, personally, I think sounds promising.

The people behind DoodleHATCH are gathering support to oppose the developer’s zoning proposal and advocate for The REALM.

And they’d love your help.

💌 How to help in about two minutes

If you live in Howard County, Maryland

If you’re 18 or older, DoodleHATCH is asking eligible county residents to visit the museum and sign their petition in person.

📍DoodleHATCH Interactive Art Museum

8775 Cloudleap Court, Unit 101
Columbia, MD 21045

⏱️ Museum hours: Friday–Sunday, 10 AM–5 PM.

And while you’re there, I highly recommend exploring the museum. Bring someone who needs a reminder that being an adult doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying ridiculous things.

If you don't live in Howard County

You can still help!

DoodleHATCH is collecting emails from people who oppose the proposed Columbia Concepts redevelopment and support preserving the existing arts and community resources through The REALM.

Send your email to: Lilou@DoodleHATCH.com

Suggested subject: Support The REALM | Oppose Columbia Concepts Zoning Proposal ZB 1132M

You can write your own message or use one of the templates below.

You don’t need to write an essay. A short, genuine message explaining what you support and why is enough to participate in this email campaign.

✍️ What should your email say?

To make your position clear, include these three things:

1. Say what you’re opposing.

State that you oppose the proposed Columbia Concepts redevelopment and zoning amendment for the Long Reach Village Center, case ZB 1132M.

2. Say what you’re supporting.

Express your support for preserving DoodleHATCH, the Maryland Fashion Institute, existing community resources, and the proposed arts and culture center called The REALM.

3. Explain why you care.

This is the part that makes your email yours.

Maybe you’ve visited DoodleHATCH. Maybe you’re a parent who wants more creative places for children. Maybe you’re an artist, an educator, or someone who thinks it’s important to protect the few spaces where people can explore and make things without needing to buy something.

Maybe you live across the country and just learned that there’s a department store for mythical creatures in Maryland, and you think the world would be a little less interesting without it.

That’s a perfectly good reason to care.

💌 Email templates you can copy

Option 1: Short, simple, and effective

Subject: Support The REALM | Oppose ZB 1132M

Hello,

I’m writing to express my opposition to the proposed Columbia Concepts zoning amendment and redevelopment of the Long Reach Village Center (ZB 1132M).

I support preserving DoodleHATCH, the Maryland Fashion Institute, and the existing community services and small businesses, as well as the proposal to create The REALM arts and culture center.

Creative and educational spaces like these provide valuable opportunities for families, artists, students, and the wider community. I believe they deserve to be protected.

Please include my email with the messages of support being collected for DoodleHATCH and The REALM.

Thank you,

[Your Name]
[Your City/State]

Option 2: For artists, creatives, and fellow merriment makers

Subject: Please Protect DoodleHATCH and Support The REALM

Hello,

I’m writing in opposition to Columbia Concepts’ proposed redevelopment and zoning amendment for the Long Reach Village Center (ZB 1132M), and in support of The REALM.

I believe communities need places where creativity, imagination, and play are actively encouraged.

DoodleHATCH is an extraordinary example of what can happen when artists and community members are given room to create something that doesn’t fit into an ordinary commercial space.

Places like this are rare. They encourage people of all ages to experiment, learn, explore, and connect with one another.

I support preserving DoodleHATCH, the Maryland Fashion Institute, the existing community resources, and the vision for The REALM.

Thank you for collecting these messages and advocating for the creative community.

[Your Name]
[Your City/State]

Option 3: For people who've visited DoodleHATCH

Subject: Please Save DoodleHATCH | Oppose ZB 1132M

Hello,

I’m writing to express my opposition to the proposed Columbia Concepts redevelopment and zoning amendment for the Long Reach Village Center (ZB 1132M), and my support for The REALM.

I’ve personally visited DoodleHATCH, and I want to share why I believe it’s worth preserving.

[Write two or three sentences about your experience. What did you see? Who did you bring? What surprised you? What made you want to return?]

DoodleHATCH is more than a collection of exhibits. It’s a place where creativity is something people can actively participate in, and I believe losing it would be a tremendous loss to the community.

I support preserving the museum, the Maryland Fashion Institute, and the other existing community resources through the proposed arts and culture center, The REALM.

Please include my email with the messages of support you’re collecting.

Thank you,

[Your Name]
[Your City/State]

A few tips before you hit send

DO:

  • Use your real name.

  • Include your city and state so organizers can understand where support is coming from.

  • Clearly identify the redevelopment proposal you’re opposing.

  • Specifically mention your support for The REALM.

  • Add a personal sentence or two if you can.

  • Be respectful, even if you’re frustrated.

  • Share this page with other people who might want to help.

DON’T:

  • Pretend to be a Howard County resident if you’re not.

  • Claim to have visited DoodleHATCH if you haven’t.

  • Make up experiences or information.

  • Send threatening, insulting, or harassing messages.

  • Assume your email is the same thing as signing the official petition.

  • Worry about making your message sound impressive. Clear and genuine is better than elaborate.

💌 The Save DoodleHATCH Email Machine

A few clicks, a little personality, and an email that helps support DoodleHATCH and The REALM. No account or signup required.

What's your connection to DoodleHATCH?
Why does protecting places like this matter to you?
✨ Your email preview
To: Lilou@DoodleHATCH.com
Subject:

Your information stays in your browser until you choose to copy or open the message. The email does not send automatically. Emails support DoodleHATCH's advocacy campaign; they are not the same as official petition signatures or zoning testimony. Please review the message before sending.

🐹 Wait. What exactly is DoodleHATCH?

I’m so glad you asked.

DoodleHATCH is an interactive art museum in Columbia, Maryland, created by artist, designer, and professional generator of wildly ambitious ideas, Lee Andersen.

The museum is designed as a pretend department store for mythological creatures, time travelers, and galactic tourists.

There are dozens of installations, and unlike most museums, you’re encouraged to touch things, explore, and participate.

There’s also an artist’s studio full of fabric and handmade garments, workshops, special events, birthday parties, free books, and opportunities for local artists to share their work.

The museum welcomes families and children, but adults are absolutely allowed to enjoy themselves, too.

And the woman behind it has spent decades bringing creativity into the community through fashion, festivals, education, and public art.

I discovered DoodleHATCH in 2020 and loved it so much that I started volunteering.

I’ve been back multiple times, and there are still things I haven’t seen.

That’s part of what makes it special. You can keep discovering things because people keep creating them.

You don't have to live near DoodleHATCH to care about it.

There are Merriment Makers everywhere.

People turning empty buildings into art spaces. People organizing parades. People teaching kids how to sew, paint, dance, or build things. People putting enormous amounts of time into projects that make their communities more interesting.

Sometimes they’re running nonprofits. Sometimes they’re working out of their garages. Sometimes they’re making something weird in a strip mall that you might drive past a hundred times without realizing what’s inside.

I hope you’ll help protect DoodleHATCH.

And I hope you’ll look around your own community, too. Visit the strange little museum. Go to the local art show. Find the person who makes giant puppets or organizes an absurd annual festival. Spend your money at the independent shop with the handmade things.

There are people everywhere creating reasons for us to be curious about being alive.

I’d like them to be able to keep doing that.

Help save DoodleHATCH. Help protect The REALM. Help keep the world interesting.

💌 Email: Lilou@DoodleHATCH.com

🌈 Visit: DoodleHATCH.com

🦄 Share: Uncustomary.org/Doodle