All my life I have heard people say, “Oh, they’re so smart for their age,” or, “that was not a smart move,” but what does being smart even mean, and how does being intellectual relate to self care? In order to define intellectual self care, we first need to define what intellectual is. Intellectual (adj.): the ability to think and understand in an intelligent way. Being intellectual does not mean getting straight As or a perfect SAT score, it means being curious about topics that interest you. Combining intellectuality and what we already know about self care, we find that intellectual self care is the act of activities that stimulate our brains while focusing on our well being.
One activity that can help with intellectual self care is learning. Along with learning our core curriculum, we are offered one or two electives per year. Electives are the perfect opportunity to find new things to be passionate about. Whether it be music, language, computers, sports, or, in this case, dance. As Berkeley High School freshman Ayshia Bell-Vorkoeper said, “Afro-Haitian dance helps you to connect with Black culture and history. It has definitely helped me be more enlightened to what has happened … It is super fun and I have a much bigger passion for dance.”
Another way to engage your mind for intellectual self care are puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles, the way we know them, have been around since the 1760s, but labyrinths were made by the Greeks and Romans as early as 2300 BC. In the past 150 years, puzzles have changed exponentially. Jigsaws were one of America’s biggest pastimes in the early to mid 1900s, but slowly declined in popularity by the turn of the century with the rise of the internet. While jigsaw puzzles are a super fun thing to do with family and friends, they can become repetitive by yourself. Introducing one-player puzzles! The crossword puzzle has been around for 112 years, there is a new one every day, and it is so satisfying to see all of the words fall perfectly into place. The internet has also helped the resurgence of puzzles. The New York Times app has loads of fun puzzle games like Wordle, Connections, and others. These games increase your logic and critical thinking skills, which crucial for intellectual self care.
The most important thing about intellectual self care is that you continue to challenge yourself and grow. I got really into baseball in middle school, so in order to intellectually challenge myself, I made a mini podcast about some of my favorite players. Doing that helped me in a number of ways. First, I got to learn more about one of my favorite sports, second, I proved to myself that I could make a podcast, and lastly I practiced intellectual self care by getting out of my comfort zone while prioritizing my well being. With that, Jackets, try to practice intellectual self care with something you are passionate about!