Reflections on Care

We are traveling at the moment, so instead of the usual weekly essay, I’m sharing a few recommended reads. Each of the essays linked below explores the role of care in our lives and examines the ways in which shifting or deepening our understanding of care personally, socially, politically, and economically could benefit us all.

“Childcare Is Not a Dirty Word” is a gorgeous essay by Alicia Simba about the relationship between care and learning and the artificial ways in which we separate these aspects of our work with children as they grow. From the bottom of my early childhood educator heart, please read this beautiful essay! Everything from the way our children learn to the ways teaching and childcare are understood and valued could be so much better if we allowed care and learning to intermingle at all stages.

“The Body Keeps the Sunshine” by Courtney Martin is another beautiful reflection on care. Martin explores the hopes she holds for her children and for her aging father, as she cares for each of them at very different stages in their lives. She also considers the precious role of experiences we may not retain in our active memory.

Lastly, “I Went Into Motherhood Determined Not to Lose Myself In It” is a thoughtful and thought provoking interview about the history of care and the need for both political and cultural shifts in our understanding and support of care. Anne Helen Petersen speaks with about how we can engage with the complexity of care in deep and meaningful ways, without either denigrating or fetishizing it.

I hope you enjoy these three beautiful reflections. They each come from a different vantage point, but each one made me feel hopeful about the potential for care to be more deeply understood and valued, and in turn to be more accessible to us all.

Wishing you abundant care,
Alicia

If you think someone else in your life might enjoy reading Notes on Hope, please share. It’s always easier to hold onto hope when we’re not doing it alone.