[Gráinne]

1. Do you nurture yourself? If so, what are the ways you do so?

Not very well. It is one way I need to change in the new year. Right now, I'm cold and uncomfortable and I'm listening to old Al Green music, enjoying my dinner of a chicken breast and veggies. That to me is nurturing, but I don't do it very often. I still have that niggling feeling that I should be doing something.

2. Do you rely on your partner/family/friends to nurture you?

No, in fact the opposite. I don't tell people when I'm feeling poorly or ask them for anything. I'm very uncomfortable with "personal attention" in that way-including intimate times. I'm a giver, never a taker.

3. Do you feel that you adequately learned how to nurture your self when you were growing up?

Oh, no, lol. My parents were the "fix your own problems and don't bother others" type. I never saw either of them cry or seem needy. My mother did enjoy playing golf, so maybe that was her nurturing.

4. Do you feel any sort of discomfort about nurturing yourself?

Definitely, as I explained in #2. I always feel I'm "wasting" time when I should be more productive-especially if the entire day has gone that way.

5. Do you think that this whole self nurturing thing is just new age stuff and not even something worth talking about?

I find myself thinking that, and then realize that nurturing brings me peace and feelings of being loved, when I do it. So it's not hogwash at all. I need to convince myself that it's crucial for me, though.