Self-Care and Empowerment

Self-Care and Empowerment

Preserving and improving oneself seems like a simple step towards taking control of life until there is the factoring in of the constant state of entropy of the world that brings with it its fair share of both troubles and success. The mind is a complicated place to be, but in it lies the vitality of the body and the workings of the body organs and without which death is inevitable. Earlier dubbed as the “self-help movement” by psychologists, self-care has become a new focus in the preservation of humanity. Are human beings so distraught that the healing is to come from within instead of without?  Therefore, self-care refers to being committed in the pursuance of a better state of emotional and physical balance, and its correlation to empowerment them becomes; feeling good leads to doing better for others. Besides, the term covers several conditions that are interspersed to mean the same thing in their eventuality. For instance, self-care may refer to any activity that is used by a person to preserve or heal themselves in the face of adversity. Forms of self-care range from taking a nap when tired,  to ensure that a person sleeps for enough hours a day. Basing on the locus of self-care and empowerment, Audre Lorde’s, “ A Burst of Light, “ and Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” deliver a  message of self-care and empowerment.

First, the terms self-care and empowerment in the two books are intrinsically intertwined to bring forth a powerful force. Empowerment refers to the process of being more substantial and more confident in the control of thoughts and actions.  Having already defined self-care as more than a one-day routine, so is empowerment. The two processes are concurrent, thus making it impossible for a person to claim that they are empowered when they do not adhere to a self-care regiment.  Bejarano points out, “Self-care is empowering; take charge of your life. When we are overwhelmed, we lack the energy and focus on making the same clear decisions that we normally would.”  Furthermore, self-care is not limited to cats of running and sleeping; it also stretches off to social, financial, spiritual, professional, and psychological well being.  The turning point for Audre Lorde to self-care care is her declaration, “me. I was very proud of having made it for half a century and in my style. “Time for a change,” I thought, “I wonder how I’m going to live the next half”(81).  While she had already lived for fifty years, she had not made any notable changes in her life, nor had she taken the idea of self-care seriously. The declaration of change can be translated into empowerment and a will to become better than before.  Anzaldua shares the same sentiments with her self-care building up her confidence to the point of going against social norms and speaking up as a woman.

What’s more, the feminist movements championed by the two writers are based on the idea that an empowered woman is well capable of taking care of herself.  For women, self-care becomes even more complicated because they have to battle with societal pressures that are always pulling them back. Holmes writes, “ For women, it’s a difficult but necessary act that helps us survive in a world with work demands, family pressures, duties at home, rampant incidents of sexual harassment, a relentless news cycle, financial worries and more. “ For a woman to get through the day, they have to have a system of release for the pressures heaped upon them. Just as Anzaldua writes, “Ser habladora, was to be a gossip and a liar, to talk too much. Muchachitas bien cradas, well-bred girls, don’t answer back”(2947). Women in the Spanish culture, as presented by the author, are degraded and looked down upon and thus expected to be quiet. In the setting of the flashback, the Anzaldua is at the dentist’s, an act supposed to be one of self-care, but even there, she is cautioned against speaking too much. In contemporary society, women have taken up feminism as a mode of both empowerment and self –care.

Self-care is comparable to the intense will to live, and in the two books, the principal, the presented obstacle, is fighting against cancer. Lorde is forced to come to terms with the sudden diagnosis of cancer, and she chooses to be selfish in her determination. King points out, “she questions what to do with the rest of her life…Although her brave and robust persona comes through when she decides that she will continue her work and “go out like a fucking meteor!” (77) T Those around her are concerned about her health; she is more than reassured that she will get better. Lorde tells of her battle with cancer in “A Burst of Light.” Her narrative does not take a bow from the continuous prose that has a locus on the empowering strength of a determined woman. Lorde points out, “Chances are I don’t have liver cancer. No matter what they say. Chances are. That’s good. That isn’t very good. Either way, I’m a hostage. So what’s new?”(85). Furthermore, in the self-care list that Lorde has is living her healthy life and refuses to take any risky surgeries or biopsies. All she describes her experience with is living, loving, and reporting. Her self care list is quite non-expansive even though the cancer is spreading through her body and making her sicker every day. Self-care, to her, is the most real sense of empowerment.

Subsequently, self-care is linked to the empowerment against racism with a particular focus on women. Notably, Lorde mirrors her struggles to those of the racism that she has faced as an African American woman. According to Lorde, “The struggle with cancer now informs all my days, but it is only another face of that continuing battle for self-determination and survival that Black women fight daily, often in triumph”(81). Undoubtedly, Lorde has not lost her focus as a Black feminist, and she occasionally mentions the overwhelming help that she is getting from the other African American women. On the other hand, the thoughts of Anzaldua come out as both racially and politically charged as she explores the need for empowerment of women that had even neglected their self-care.  She explores her inner turmoil when it comes to the acceptance of Latin Americans through na exemplification of neglect of her language. By the use of language, Anzaldua tells of the manner in which women are exposed to misogynistic harassment and a loss of identity. Anzaldua writes, “Chicanas use nostrous whether we are male or female. We are robbed of our female being by masculine plural. Language is a male discourse”(2948). In amove to empower herself, the author speaks English despite claims that she is a traitor to her language for speaking the language of the “oppressors.” The community does not understand that it is Chicano Spanish, that is to her the language of oppression.

Basing on the locus of self-care and empowerment, Audre Lorde’s, ” A Burst of Light, ” and Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” deliver a  message of self-care and empowerment.  Self-care takes various forms, but in all settings, it helps in the overcoming all obstacles, including racism and feminism. The feminist movements campaigned by the two writers is based on the idea that an empowered woman is well capable of taking care of herself.   While the language is expected to empower people in the setting of “How To Tame a Tongue,” the Chicano people have to encounter undesirable attitudes from other people. Therefore, social engagements that finally shape the identity of an individual. These societal constructs are varying different groups due to a difference in political, social, and economic affiliations. Preserving and improving oneself seems like a simple step towards taking control of life until there is the factoring in of the constant state of entropy of the world that brings with it its fair share of both troubles and success. Unfortunately, social contributions can be adverse to self-care and hamper empowerment. Subsequently, the idea of self –care and empowerment is beneficial to not only an individual but also to the broader communal contribution that they are to make.