What Does It Mean to Care? Reflecting on Giving, Receiving, and Noticing Care

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about care—what it means to care, what it means to show care, and how those two things aren’t always the same. You might feel like you care about someone, but how do you actually show it? And on the other side of that, what does it feel like to receive care?

If you haven’t been shown care yourself, it can be difficult to know how to show care to others—or even how to receive it. You might be familiar with the idea of care or feel like you do care deeply, but what does it actually mean to show that care? What does it look like? What does it feel like? And when care is offered to you, what does it feel like to let it in?

And what does it feel like to believe that you deserve care—that care is available to you, that the people around you care? Because just like the act of giving, receiving care requires something too. Someone has to be willing to receive and to recognize the care that’s being offered to them; otherwise, it can be harder to fully take it in. When that happens, it’s easy to start believing that people don’t care—and that belief can create a lot of isolation and disconnection.

At the same time, care isn’t only about recognizing what you need. It also means being attuned to others and the care they might need. Are you paying attention to the signals that someone else might be giving? Care often doesn’t announce itself loudly—it can be subtle, expressed through quiet gestures or the things people don’t say out loud. Sometimes, the act of showing care begins with noticing what someone else might not know how to ask for.

Every single one of us needs a level of care that’s unique and individual to who we are. As we move into the holiday season—a time when we naturally think more about giving and receiving—I want to invite us to go deeper than material gifts and reflect on the experience of care itself. What does care mean to you? How do you show it? How do you receive it? What signals do you give to let others know you need care? And are you noticing the signals others are giving, too?

Take a moment today to sit with these questions and reflect on your own experience of care—both in giving and receiving.

#SelfReflection #CareAndConnection #MindfulLiving #GivingAndReceiving #EmotionalWellness #CompassionInAction #IntentionalLiving #HumanConnection #PersonalGrowthJourney #HolidayReflections