Self-care and pandemic a new video by Gracy Obuchowicz and Maria Habib author and designer/illustrator of selfcarefully.
In 2018, we published selfcarefully as a “self-helpish” book about caring for yourself. It was a collaboration between a writer/teacher, Gracy, an designer/illustrator, Maria and a small design-oriented press, Thick Press. We wanted to create a book that didn't just explain self-care, but rather made reading it an act of self-care itself.
As we created the book, we tried to follow the sense of energy that was emerging and guiding our creative choices. In our study of Ayurveda, a foundational element of each of our self-care practices, we learned about the concept of prana, or the life force energy that guides us through our lives.
When the illustrations took form, Maria felt that an actual line should start from the beginning and run through each illustration, as a way to bring the many self-care vignettes into one cohesive form. As the drawings emerged, we began to understand the line as a physical representation of the same prana that inspired our work.
Even after the book was published, the prana line wanted to keep going. Maria has made a daily practice of breathing, listening and letting the prana line take form. The line has become a vehicle for feeling grief, integrating experiences, and remembering the ever-present magic of life.
When the illustrations took form, Maria felt that an actual line should start from the beginning and run through each illustration, as a way to bring the many self-care vignettes into one cohesive form. As the drawings emerged, we began to understand the line as a physical representation of the same prana that inspired our work.
Even after the book was published, the prana line wanted to keep going. Maria has made a daily practice of breathing, listening and letting the prana line take form. The line has become a vehicle for feeling grief, integrating experiences, and remembering the ever-present magic of life.