Taking Care

My post about Compassion Fatigue has me thinking about things that I can do to take care of myself.  So, I am going to have a series of posts about this.  

One good way for me to relax is to read a good book.  I love books...get me in a bookstore (or on amazon.com) and you should hide my wallet!  When I was a kid, my siblings and I would go to the library every week during the summer to participate in their summer reading programs.  My sister and I would get huge stacks of books each week and then go home and devour them.  Some of them were silly books, but they were books nonetheless.  My love of reading continued through high school and college.  When I got to law school, however, I found that I stopped reading for pleasure. I think that it was because I was reading so much for class.  Occasionally I would get a "beach read" type book and more than once I found myself reading through the night instead of studying.

After law school I started to read again and it has been a good source of relaxation for me.  I generally have several books going at once and read a wide variety of book.  On top of this, I formed a book club.  That has been great.  We meet once a month (roughly) and rotate who hosts.  We have dinner, talk, laugh, and generally have a great time.

I also carry a book with me most places and that certainly comes in handy when we unexpectedly end up in the hospital!  I read all of Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen during one ER visit.