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Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines works hard to nurture her businesses and give her all to every project she touches. However, she also sets aside time to nourish herself and replenish the energy she expends. Here are some of Gaines’ wise words on self-care.  

Find your ‘delight’

Chip and Joanna Gaines pose on the Today show.
Chip and Joanna Gaines | Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

In the Winter 2021 issue of Magnolia Journal, Gaines spoke about the delight she received from wearing a small nose ring. It’s not something she would normally wear, but she decided to try something new. She explained how her sister had a nose ring and it brought her so much joy. Gaines encourages her readers to find something that delights them and adds richness to their lives. Here’s what she wrote in her column:

I think it’s more important than ever to find where each of us can turn for delight and claim it. Carve out that time and be intentional about making it what you want and need it to be. Then find a little part of it—perhaps a small gold stud—you can keep in a place you see often. A reminder that sometimes delight can be spontaneous, and other times it might come just where you expect it, from someone or something that leads you to the best parts of who you are. But more than anything, a reminder that delight is always there, and always ours for the taking.

Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Journal

Find time for rest

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In the Winter 2020 issue of Magnolia Journal, Gaines talks about the importance of rest. In her essay, titled “A Season for Rest,” she reminds us that it’s vital to take time out from work to replenish our minds and bodies. She talks about her garden and how it produces lovely flowers and plants, but it also goes through a period where it rests and restores itself. She says she realizes that she is just like the garden. She has learned over the years that if she wants to remain creative and vital, she must take time to slow down and restore herself:

I’ve also come to learn that I’m a lot like the garden. I, too, feel that I was made to work, to produce, to bear fruit. I come alive when I’m busy, when I’m checking things off my to-do list, and when my life is overflowing with all the things I believe I was made to do. But, like the garden, I need rest—true, deep, meaningful, and nurturing rest. I need time to rest my body and rest my mind. I cannot run on fumes.

Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Journal

Find your anchor

In her Magnolia Journal essay, Gaines discusses the idea of having strong anchors in your life. These are the parts of our lives that help us feel grounded and sure. She says anchors are what guide and navigate us each day. Some examples she gives are prayer and meditation.

However, when I pause to look closely, more and more I have come to see that these anchors are what keep me from floating away into places where I don’t want to be or that I’m just not ready for yet. Instead of stifling me, they actually provide a safe place for me to grow and explore and be. The anchors of our life can be significant things like faith, prayer, meditation, but they can also be seemingly small and mundane like cooking, reading, running. The magical thing is that they somehow offer a place of refuge in the ever-changing landscapes of our lives.

RELATED: Joanna Gaines on Going to the ‘Extreme’ to Nurture Herself

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