Episode 22 - Self-Care, Boundaries & Honoring Your Energy with Amy Donovan
By Jessica Garrison
Our second guest of the week is not necessarily new to our network, but she is new to the F.E.E.L Podcast. Amy Donovan has been on the radio show with episodes, “Coming Back to Your WHY and Your Values” and “Accepting the Layered Aspects of Yourself,” as well as our YouTube panel show “Together We F.E.E.L: Body Responsibility.” So when you finish the episode and want to hear more from Amy, there’s plenty to explore! Amy describes herself as a good dreamer but not always a great executer, an oversharer, an open book, a complete empath, someone who operates at an 8, quick witted, quick tempered, and quick at everything except physical activity, which I think many of us may already connect with.
No matter what phase of life you’re in, it’s busy. I think we have a misconception on how life is “supposed” to go, like you’re supposed to be married with children and retire at a certain age. However, life is unpredictable and when things don’t go as planned, we kind of have a mentality of pushing through until life has settled enough for us to do what we want. However, we’ve heard before and we’re hearing now that you cannot wait to take care of yourself—make time for yourself within the moments you have now. This makes it so important to provide self care for yourself throughout even the busiest of days.
Otherwise, resentment and regret starts to control you because you realize you’ve been waiting for your kids to grow up and move out to start doing nice things for yourself, or you’re waiting to retire until you take that dream vacation you’ve been planning in your head for years. Live your life now while it’s here, stop to smell the roses, and remember to take care of yourself through the journey.
Another point that connects with this is the idea of “keeping score” in relationships, which Amy brought up during the boundaries talking point. I think this comes up a lot in relationships but it isn’t discussed much. There’s a balance to find between having an equal partnership without keeping score of who does what. For example, my roommate and I will buy each other drinks at coffee shops without being asked or giving the other money for it. We just do it back and forth when the time is right for it to have a little surprise. We don’t keep track and say, “I got you a large before and you got me a medium this time,” or any other comparisons. It isn’t about doing something nice to use against the other person later, but rather to just do something nice because you want to. It doesn’t even have to be a romantic relationship, but it could also be with friends, family, or coworkers.
Amy has such a bright spirit, and I really enjoyed her episode. She’s vulnerable, authentic, and she gets you excited to start your own journey. Let Amy serve as a reminder to treat yourself and others kindly because you are worthy and deserve good things.
Ways to Engage: What are things you like about yourself? Not what you don’t like, but what you can truly appreciate about yourself. Start with character traits. Do you like that you’re empathetic or funny or patient? What do you like about yourself physically? Build your confidence and focus on the good, rather than picking apart the things you don’t like.