HEALTH AND WELLBEING.

On Care. 

“Humans are not rational, they are perceptive” - Daniel Kahneman

Caring for another is a priviledge, That can expand and enrich. It is an act of intimacy. That invites us to open our hearts to respond to the needs of another. Care being the meeting of a need. In its actualisation it acknowledges that we are are vulnerable. And as Krista Tippet states” what that means is that we might actually say that needfulness — because it is temporal and changing and over the lifespan — is a feature actually of human life, and maybe even constitutive of the good life, I’ve come to think. That to be human is inherently needy”. Care unites both the giver and the reciever in a moment of shared reciprocity. It intertwines us together. Tending to another can be appreciated as an external declaration of love. Neither health, nor love can be separated from care.

However caring for another another demands time, energy, attention, a precious balance between giving and recieving that can dip into deficit or dependance. To nuture requires that we are able to let down our defences and allow our own softness to be revealed. Caring in the present can remind us of our own experiences of being cared for, whether our needs were met, or not. Thus caring can be an intricate experience for the carer, sensitive, acute and simultaneously liberating and joyous, that begs the consideration of how we can support ourselves and each other so that the experience of care is rewarding for both the giver and the reciever. To define what is it that nurturing and tending to mean to ourselves, and how we may be extend this to others? Care is both personal and communal.

29. Nov.2024.

Photo Kim Verdebo.