​I’m Feng Yuzhen, a librarian who’s worked in this field for half my life. I’ve worked with books every day for half my life, so I know just how fragile those rare ancient books are. They can’t stand dryness, direct sunlight, or dampness. We have to keep them in temperature and humidity-controlled cabinets and humidify the room on time every day; there’s no room for carelessness. But when I got Sjögren’s syndrome myself, my mouth so dry it felt like I had crumpled paper in it, and my eyes so gritty I could barely keep them open, I just thought that I would tough it out. Last spring, a neighbor encouraged me to come to Amy’s Women Empowerment, so I decided to give it a try. People here said to me: “Ms. Feng, you take such good care of the books. Why not try looking after yourself the same way?” She also gave me a down-to-earth tip, which is to bring a thermos to work. Every half hour, whether I feel thirsty or not, stand up, walk around a bit, and take three small sips of warm water. That simple, routine habit is what pulled me out of the cycle of just toughing it out. Instead of waiting until my body was completely worn out to do something about it, I started nourishing and hydrating myself on a regular schedule, just like I do with the rarest books in the collection. That’s when it hit me: I’d always treated myself like a work tool, only thinking about fixing myself when I broke down. But the truth is, I’m just as worthy of being cherished as those ancient books. Now, my thermos and alarm clock sit right next to the bookshelf on my desk. Every time the alarm goes off, I take those three sips of water, and when I feel the moisture in my throat, my heart feels light too. I realized that, just like these books, I deserve to be well cared for.