Handpicked Happening: “It’s okay to have some help.”
Welcome to Handpicked Happening, where Kickstarter creators share their recommendations for things to read, watch, and listen to. Want to get Happening delivered right to your inbox? Sign up here.
Animation by Tin Kadoic
"It's okay to have some help," says Femsplain founder Amber Discko. That's why she created Aloe, an online community focused on self-care. She's launched a Kickstarter project to turn Aloe into an app that will send "gentle self-care reminders from yourself." Below, Amber recommends some soul-soothing books, videos, and Twitter bots, and shares her own self-care strategies.
What does "self-care" mean to you?
Self-care is taking steps to maintain physical, mental, and emotional health. For me, self-care is disconnecting from the internet and doing activities that don't stress me out — things that are soul-fulfilling or relaxing, like cooking soup or taking a bath in the morning.
What is the Aloe community? How does the app build on it?
The Aloe community exists on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. We share daily self-care reminders with our followers, things like remembering to have a sip of water or to have a snack around lunchtime. The Aloe app will do the same thing by sending these gentle reminders to your phone, making it easier for you to stay on top of your self-care tasks.
What is Internet Self-Care Day, and how can people get involved?
International Self-Care Day was on July 24, but we're proposing a separate holiday on August 21 that takes the spirit of self-care online. Join us in celebrating Internet Self-Care Day by sharing your self-care routines and tips using the hashtag #ISCD17.
You can also tune into Aloe's Internet Self-Care Day live stream on August 21 at 8 pm EDT for a lesson from a self-care specialist, a group meditation session, and more.
