Are you familiar with the earned-permission syndrome? It’s the feeling that relief, nourishment, rest, or care must be justified by sufficient accomplishment.
The day begins with possibility.
Possibility becomes obligation.
Obligation becomes pressure.
Pressure consumes energy.
Energy falls.
Basic needs are postponed.
The postponement further reduces energy.
Then the diminished energy begins to resemble depression.
When time feels like it’s winding down (I’m 73), ordinary self-care oftentimes feels like an interruption. The body is not dealing with mortality in the same abstract way.
Sustenance is not the enemy of inquiry.
A meal does not diminish the work.
A walk does not diminish the work.
A moment of pleasure does not diminish the work.
The vessel must be replenished if it is to continue holding anything at all.