The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People

by Rachel Wilkerson Miller

Remember to honor the labor of showing up. The labor of showing up is the (often invisible!) work of caring—thinking about other people’s feelings, comfort, needs, and preferences, and knowing what to care about in the first place. The labor of showing up is sending thank-you notes; it’s figuring out whose house the family will be going to for the holidays; it’s researching a venue that can hold a group of your size; it’s planning the group vacation; it’s RSVPing; it’s coordinating the office potlucks; it’s choosing, buying, and wrapping the gift for the birthday party your five-year-old is attending. It’s what has historically been treated as “women’s work,” and, as a result, is often undervalued, overlooked, and ignored. In the context of group gatherings, the labor of showing up might look like . .