Over the last year, the idea of self-care gained significant popularity and has even come to border on being a political term.

As positive and well-intentioned as self-care trends are, are they not also working to commodify epidemics of anxiety and being overworked? I want to eat healthily, but I don’t need $8 smoothies to do it. And investing in five different expensive skin creams might give me an intense shopper’s high, but it won’t alleviate stress (unless I happen to be reaaaaally stressed about procuring skin cream).

Self-care should come from the self. If a fancy face mask makes you feel better, then go for it, but don’t feel like you should be spending to truly participate in the self-care trend (does anyone else feel like referring to it as a “trend” at all is problematic?). Self-care can simply be a Friday night spent at home with a good book instead of going out after a long week.

Of course, staying home on the weekend to get some solid rest isn’t a novelty in any way -- it’s just that there’s a new name for it. But as someone whose anxiety used to be a lot worse, I know how therapeutic me-time can be. I don’t need it to be packaged and sold to me.

As I write this, I’m reeling from having just completed the first semester of my MA. Interestingly, it hasn’t been nearly as bad as my undergrad, which makes me realize just how much undergrads are overworked. However, part of that also comes from the way I dealt with the workload. When I was tired, I stopped. When I needed a break, I didn’t push myself. I made time for TV. Pro tip: schedule time to just do nothing. Having an agenda bursting with commitments you can’t honor might make you feel super important for a bit, but it’s not worth the stress. Learning to decline invitations is important, too -- no one will remember which events you did and didn’t go to. It’s really not a big deal.

It took a while, but I’m learning that taking breaks is okay. Not overworking yourself is okay. For a long time, the atmosphere of academia made me feel as if every moment spent not doing homework was a moment wasted. I’m here to tell you that is NOT true. It might feel good to see those As rolling in, but anxiety and stress and grey hair don’t. From one student to another: this is a reminder to take care of yourself.