Tag: support

The Blog Wants to Know: May 2025

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and with the end-of-school year and summer stress looming, it’s a great time to chat about managing stress.

What are some tips, tricks, methods, and resources you use to de-stress? How do you take care of your mental health and what have you found that works for you?  

Maycie, Public Support Services: Quiet time is so important! I recommend a dark quiet room for when you have sensory overload. Don’t overestimate what laying on the floor for a minute can do for your mental well-being. You have to remember to give your brain, your ears and your eyes all a break together during the day and just when you’re sleeping.

Also adopt a cat (or two) … they help a lot.

Maycie’s kitties, Barrett and Chopin

Kathy, Public Support Services: My biggest joy is actually reading so I end my day reading for about 30 minutes.  I let the book take me away from everything else and then I am ready to go to sleep.

Emily B., Public Support Services: Anxiety is always something I have struggled with, and while journaling is easy, it’s hard for me to be consistent. I found an app called How We Feel and I cannot recommend it enough! It helps you dissect your feelings and helps you get to the source of your problem. It also has several other techniques to help de-stress and manage negative thoughts. It’s entirely free too!

Shane, Public Support Services: As a college student, I often have overlapping deadlines and workloads with each class having its own structure. This semester was a unique challenge with two accelerated courses and two regular courses (and I will be doing the same thing for the summer semester).

To manage my stress, I plan out my time using a day planner (I use the Happy Planner weekly layout) and I color code each class. I write down my work schedule, due dates, appointments, social obligations, etc. and plan out when I will work on assignments. If I have a large assignment, I find breaking it up into little chunks much easier than trying to deal with the whole assignment. That way, “I have to write a 10 page paper by this date” becomes “I have to write the four paragraphs of my paper today.” Also, it always helps to plan a break day to let my mind rest and recover and enjoy myself so I can be more productive the next day. It’s important to enjoy yourself even when you’re busy!

Megan, Outreach Coordinator: How I de-stress is by putting in ear buds, playing some Kendrick Lamar and artists similar, and deep clean/organize my space. 

Alyssa, Adult and Teen Services Coordinator: When I’m stressed, either I need to move my body or I need to be a quiet, lazy blob . For movement, going for a walk, practicing yoga, or even just putting on some music and dancing around the house can really help. I often watch SarahBethYoga videos if I want to follow an instructor or a guided meditation. I do also love boxing or HIIT workouts like this one just to get all of that built-up cortisol and adrenaline out. And for peak blob-form, I’ll get in this shark onesie, turn on a comfort show, and turn off my phone!

Shelia, Interlibrary Loan and Cataloguing: My go-to for stress relief is usually being out in the sun and/or spending time with our various pets. My husband and I recently purchased bikes and getting out and riding always puts a smile on my face and makes me feel better.

Trinity, Page: When I’m stressed, I spend time with my dog. She’s a cuddlebug and I can’t say no to her puppy eyes! 

Hannah, Assistant Director: I wear an Oura ring to monitor my biometrics, and I’ve been using the Finch app for the last month to prioritize my mental health and my productivity. I’m a big fan of meditation as well. I’ve used almost all the apps…Headspace, Calm, Mindllama, and the Mindfulness app on my Apple Watch.

Dawn, Youth Services Coordinator: For de-stressing I tend to talk to friends and listen to music. Going to a movie or streaming something also helps me de-stress. I try to make lists so I don’t overwhelm myself both at home and work. It’s so gratifying to cross off things on a list once I get them accomplished. 

Now it’s your turn! What works for you when you’re dealing with stress? Let us know in the blog comments below!

From Reader to Writer: Finding Courage to Work

Do you remember what you were like when you were a child? You were fearless, unbridled, and free of the smudges left by other people’s opinions and motivations. If you said you were an astronaut, you were an astronaut despite the technicalities of school and space travel. But somewhere along the way, you grew and fear within you grew as well. The fear of expectation, failure, and entitlement took over and before you knew it, you couldn’t bear to call yourself an astronaut, let alone become one.

This is what happened to me. My oldest memory is that of calling myself a writer. From age three on, the answer I always gave to every adult who asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up was a writer. “Writer” became my identity. It didn’t matter if the writing was bad or if I never finished a project. I knew that somehow it would all work out, and I would find my name on a glossy, well-bound book on the shelf.

I can’t tell you when it started, but something snapped along the way. I found it uncomfortable to call myself a writer. Then I found it uncomfortable to write at all. Even after years of school, years of practice, and years of reading books, I still couldn’t seem to feel confident in the work I was doing. What was the right story, the right character, the right word? Soon, the fear became a dull excuse that manifested into too exhausted or too busy or too uninspired. Now it’s been months since I’ve touched my work, and that dream I was so sure of as a child is drifting further and further out to sea.

Unused creativity is not benign. If you find that you are called to create something and you resist that call, it will slowly eat away at you.

– Elizabeth Gilbert

I believe this to be true. I find myself resenting authors for their successes. I resent myself for my lack of discipline and confidence. And I miss my work. This must mean that the ideas and stories and characters that keep boggling my brain want to be heard. They don’t want me to leave them behind. Perhaps there is art that you have left behind too whether writing, drawing, dancing, film making, or singing.

Here are three resources that might help you find the courage to work:

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

This is more of a class or workshop than a self-help book. Cameron provides concrete exercises and techniques to move you past your block or fear and into a space of making things that feels genuine and authentic.

Big Magic: Creative Living beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book validates what you might be feeling. Gilbert uses her own experiences, and her perspective on creating something from nothing to challenge you out of your comfort zone.

Magic Lessons Podcast

Bringing Big Magic to life, this podcast features people who are struggling with creating and ask Elizabeth Gilbert for advice. Besides giving her own information and encouragement, Gilbert brings in professionals like Cheryl Strayed, Neil Gaiman, and Brene Brown to share their stories of how they conquer their fear and come to a place of fulfillment in their work.

I hope these resources might kick start your creativity. Let me know if you have ever felt fearful of making things or sharing your art, and I’ll be back with another post about my journey from reader to writer.