It’s almost three months that the word “care” is at the centre of the Care Day research and the more I explore and experiment its meaning, the more I feel that its universal and blurred essence is contained in details.

To date, to embody self-care has meant going back to basics, taking back the time to feel good [as much as the right to express sad feelings] without having to justify it.
It's been about freeing time from being “free time”.

During the past two months I have collected a little analog treasure with my cassette tape player, asking around (including my 91 years old grandma) what "caring" and "taking care" means to them. I deliberately left the question open to interpretation: some people speak about self-care, others refers to care as a generic concept, most of them understand it as care for somebody else.

While translating the answers - since they are in Italian- i've noticed that the first watershed in the pool of meanings occurs if we speak about care in terms of "assistance/aid" or "affection/feelings".
I believe this small detail of the language brings up an important point in the practice of creating solidarity across borders and fighting fragmentation in Europe: the motivation of the individual.
To what extent can one take care of (=deal with) somebody / [sb]'s problems/issues without truly caring about (= being truly concerned, empathizing with) them?
Understanding the individual driving reasons behind a practice/an initiative is essential, especially to make it long-term.

 

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what does "caring" mean to you?
- a small experiment - 

 

• To talk about the therapy (n.t. "cura"in Italian is"care", but also "therapy"), you should identify the problem first
• To wear something I like
• To look after somebody, to understand
• To listen
• You said to choose one thing and I've chosen one that for me embrace them all: to me, it is about taking care of what is going on around you and how your body and soul react to it, it is about not losing sight of who you are, but having always in mind where you are so that you know how to move, how to deal with things, how to relate to them, it is about not being intrusive, yet being present
• In that moment (when you take care of somebody) the priority is only that one, "taking care" is a commitment, but can also be very rewarding
• To take time for myself and this can range from from going to the hairdresser or having a shower to just sitting on the sofa petting my dog. I believe it is a very precious time and one should always find time for that.
• To take care of somebody is to know how they feel
• To give to the other some of my free time
• To put your needs aside in order to give space to the other's needs
• To feel yourself, to feel the other, to be open to emotions and to share