Reality bites

I was scrolling through Twitter on January 2 when I came across a tweet from a writer I follow: “Just quietly unfollowing everyone on FB posting memes about how self-care will solve all of the world’s problems,” Kate Harding wrote. “We’ll be inaugurating a dictator in 18 days, but I’m sure a pedicure will make all the difference in your readiness to resist.”

I sat there in my pajamas for a second and stared at my bare toes, just recently painted a dark cherry red, feeling mildly guilty.

And then the moment passed. Nope, forget that. No guilt at all. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential.

SN&R’s editorial team first started discussing its annual Vice Guide before the election. Then, we joked, we’d go with an “escapism” theme should Trump be elected. The idea being, naturally, that we’d all want to crawl in a hole and hide away for four years. You know, ha ha.

The theme took on new meaning after November 8, of course. Now, more than ever, we felt as though we’d been tasked with a crucial mission as journalists: Watchdogs, truth-seekers, activists.

It’s an important cause but one that’s emotionally exhausting as well.

And that’s where self-care and our Vice Guide come in. This year’s package (See “A guide to vice and escapism,”) has insights and tips on how to really get away from it all, at least temporarily.

Whatever your poison—drinking, binge-watching, resolution-busting foods—we’re giving readers (and ourselves) the OK to tune out and escape reality every now and again.

Not only will such self-care make us stronger, our very sanity likely depends on it.