From Self-Care to Community Care

Obviously, it’s no secret that I’m a believer in self-care. I believe that Empowerment Self Defense and protecting bodies and souls is the ultimate form of self-care. And I believe that taking responsibility for our own well-being is truly empowering.

But sometimes, even when self-care works, it just isn’t enough, and we need something more once the bath salts wear off and there are no more episodes left of whatever we’ve been binging on Netflix.

Which is why I believe that we can’t, and shouldn’t have to, do everything by and for ourselves.

If the past eighteen months have taught us anything, it’s that humans are not meant to live in isolation.

So I agree with this:

“Shouting ‘self-care’ at people who actually need ‘community care’ is how we fail people.”

“Shouting ‘self-care’ at people who actually need ‘community care’ is how we fail people.”

~ Nakita Valerio

One of the greatest pleasures I’ve had in life is watching El HaLev turn into the strong community it is today. I’ll never get tired of watching students support each other by listening to stories, cheering each other on as they fight, and eagerly adding their names to contact sheets, ready and willing to be there for their classmates.

I see the same closeness among graduates of ESD Global trainings.

The MyPwr team is working hard to make sure there will be a sense of community among the app’s users, even virtually.

So I want to hear from you. Why do you think community care is so important? How can we build community care into our violence prevention education programs?

Please share your examples of community care in the comments.