God Knows Caregiving Can Pull You Apart

12 Chapters

Additional Info
But How to Keep It All Together?

A great and courageous question! That’s what this book is all about. It’s for those who have crossed the threshold of “if” in regards to caregiving, and moved on now to the “how” of it.

Each chapter that follows focuses on a different way to “keep it together” while giving care to a loved one.

Included in each chapter are brief explanations about how a particular way might look or work for you, short quotes for inspiration, stories about how others have gone about it, and a number of exercises that you can use to pause and reflect, regroup, and expand your caregiving repertoire.

Because journaling in particular can be such a useful exercise for caregivers, and because its tools (paper, writing utensil) are compact and simple enough to be brought into almost any setting, most chapters will include at least one journaling suggestion. Many caregivers have told me that journaling-writing in a completely non-judgmental way about their lives and having one certain safe place to express their experience in all its complexity-gives them valuable insights that might not be gained as easily in any other way. All exercises, however, including journaling ideas, are only suggestions.

This is a book that need not be rushed through. In fact, it will probably serve you better if you wander through it slowly and thoughtfully, perhaps even in a spirit of well-deserved leisure. It might sit on your bedside table, get tucked alongside a favorite armchair, or travel with you in a purse, briefcase, or satchel. Its quotations and stories are intentionally brief, that they might easily be remembered for inspiration or sustenance at just the right moment.