What can Aliens Teach us About Self Care?

Stay with me, this’ll make sense— I promise.

As you may have seen in the news recently, aliens are apparently… real? Well, maybe. According to a government whistleblower, David Charles Grusch, and a handful of others who agreed to testify alongside him before Congress in an open session, they just might be.

The internet took the news as expected— some people were stoked, while others said, “who cares? Life is hard enough here, on earth,”— and it’s that question that intrigued me most.

We live in a world in which self care is popular to proselytize but difficult to practice in our own lives, and that makes sense. Life is hard and the endless rat-race of a capitalist existence makes it increasingly hard for regular, working folks to scrape by and live comfortable lives. That creates a lot of environmental and societal stress, which isn’t great for setting the scene when it comes to encouraging others to practice self care. 

But, all that said, I had a thought— what can aliens teach us about ourselves, and about self care? It was a humorous thought, at first, but once I pondered it for a while I actually found some (silly, but true) examples of how the urban myth of the “alien,” as we think of them, can help guide our self care practices. Let me give you some examples:

They teach us to prioritize exploration

If aliens are real, and they’ve been here, that means they’ve learned how to travel great (and I mean, like, impossibly great) distances, which is wild. That tells me something about aliens— they must prioritize exploration over, well, almost everything else. 

If aliens (who would have to be hyper-intelligent to figure out interstellar travel across literally lightyears of open space) take time to make travel and exploration a priority, why shouldn’t we? Maybe life isn’t all about meeting that deadline or rushing around to see who can make the most money; maybe it’s more about exploring the vast, beautiful universe around us. Even if that means exploring more of your own neighborhood on a peaceful afternoon walk, or traveling to a new place to taste the unique cuisine, or beyond, maybe we should be making exploration a top priority for our mental health and wellbeing.

They stay in their own lane (mostly?)

Though they seem to enjoy exploration, it seems like aliens mostly mind their business, right? If they have been here, they certainly haven’t tried to make a fuss. They seem to be fine just passively observing us, learning more, and not involving themselves in drama that doesn’t concern them (like, for example, our earth politics). 

So, what self care tip can we take away from this? Perhaps it’s that we should stay in our own lane, and not put ourselves in the middle of dramatic messes that are truly beyond our control. Maybe we should just set some boundaries, and mind our own business? I guarantee you, that alone will make a major difference in your mental health and wellbeing. 

They reach for the stars

You may have heard the old, cliché quote, “Don’t be afraid to shoot for the moon; you might just land among the stars,” and rolled your eyes at the overly-optimistic (and kind of corny) tone of such a statement. However, maybe the sentiment of the statement is true? 

It seems like aliens, and our infatuation with their existence, proves that there’s something inherently built into us all that wants to reach for the stars. In that way we’re a lot like aliens, I suppose— for our own mental health and wellbeing, we want to seek out more. 

This could be more in the spiritual realm, the scientific realm, or whatever sets your soul particularly alight; but there’s truly nothing more fulfilling than chasing a passion and prioritizing reaching for what matters to us most.

They promote curiosity about the Universe around us

And, in that same vein, aliens remind us to stay curious. If we ever feel stuck, there are wonderful little reminders all around that there’s always so much more to explore! There are millions of moments happening to us every day that can inspire us to create more, learn more, or simply pause and find awe in the present. So, maybe take some extra time to be curious today, okay? 

As farcical as this all may seem, the modern myth of the “alien” can actually teach us a lot about ourselves, and how to care for our own very familiar, human vessels while we navigate this crazy world, solar system, and universe we’ve found ourselves taking up a little bit of space in.

So, how will you incorporate this “alien” self care into your life? Let’s discuss,

Xoxo,

MM.