Podcast Episode 6: Caring vs. Carrying

This episode of The Steward Project Podcast is one I am excited to share. Excited because when I began thinking about the difference between caring & carrying, it made a HUGE shift in how I see my role in this helping, healing, and change-making work.

When we think about our work or our personal lives, consider how many people you care for. Now consider how much you carry for those same people. Do you know the difference? Can you FEEL the difference?

Caring for others give us a sense of purpose and feels spacious in our bodies. Carrying for others can leave us feeling overwhelmed and heavy in our bodies. We may grow to resent those for whom we care when we are carrying too much for them rather than allowing them to carry for themselves.

Part of healing is being able to walk with someone as they face challenges. The definition of CARING is "displaying kindness and concern for others" and "the work or practice of looking after those unable to care for themselves..." And this feels good. Caring is why many of us came to helping, healing, and change-making work in the first place.

But CARRYING...that is a different story altogether. The definition of carrying is "support the weight of". Oof. That feels very different. Can you feel the weight of carrying...how heavy things can get when you feel that your caring is being taken advantage of and you are now carrying for others?

Knowing the difference between caring & carrying can help us create RADICAL boundaries that are a part of good self-care if we want to continue to be sustained in our helping, healing, and change-making work.

How is this resonating with you? Can you feel the difference between CARING and CARRYING? Does this help you consider what boundaries you might want to put in place to shift from carrying back to caring? I'd love to hear what you think!

Resources from this episode: