Exposure Therapy/Community Canvas/Beautiful Poem

1. Excellent life advice from a new newsletter I've been loving (See "One Short" section in the email or scroll down to my complete list below)
2. Now I get why this "time-management" book has been so, so successful
3. A nonprofit sharing stories of post-traumatic growth
4. A thoughtful framework for building meaningful communities of any kind
5. Exposure therapy, clearly explained through the fear of flying
6. Read why the new mental health crisis line is facing a huge problem
7. My mom reminded me how much I love this beautifully powerful poem by Rudyard Kipling

Excellent life advice from a new newsletter I've been loving

Why this advice from Kevin Kelly matters for your mental health

But What For? is a delightful, digestible newsletter I've found recently, and they just shared this life advice from Wired founding editor and all-around amazing human being, Kevin Kelly:

1. Denying or deflecting a compliment is rude. Accept it with thanks.
2. Getting cheated occasionally is a small price to pay for trusting the best in everyone, because when you trust the best in others, they will treat you the best.
3. The thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult.
4. Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility.
5. If you meet a jerk once a month, you’ve met a jerk. If you meet jerks every day, you’re a jerk.
6. Ignore what they are thinking of you because they are not thinking of you

Now I get why this "time-management" book has been so, so successful

Why this book by Oliver Burkeman matters for your mental health

This is not a book about time management, even though that's what the title says. 

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals is a book about figuring out the life that is best for you. It's incredibly well written. You may recall I shared a tip from the author, Oliver Burkeman, about how to make tough decisions. 

His advice, which I shared in a past newsletter, "choose enlargement over happiness" is something I've thought about every week since I've read it. This book is NOT self-help fluff. I really think Burkeman is hitting the core of the human experience with this one.

A nonprofit sharing stories of post-traumatic growth

Why this nonprofit matters for your mental health

Post-traumatic growth is a concept that has fascinated me ever since I managed to recover from the debilitating depression brought about after my open-heart surgery at age 24. 

I thought I wouldn't make it through, but doing so prompted a period of growth and purpose I never expected. 

This nonprofit exists to promote the stories of people who have overcome incredible great hardship and later experienced post-traumatic growth.

A thoughtful framework for building meaningful communities of any kind

Why this community-building framework matters for your mental health

I think I found this while going down a rabbit hole about how Holstee got started. I joined the team in a part-time capacity to help grow their personal-growth product, Reflection.app, a journaling tool that has changed my life. 

One of the things that made me want to work with the Holstee team is that they are experts when it comes to building engaged communities. One of the original founders, Fabian, has since helped develop this amazing framework, which consists of 3 sections and 17 themes.

Exposure therapy, clearly explained through the fear of flying

Why this short NPR article matters for your mental health

Never in my life did I think NPR would reach out to me to share an article in a measly mental health newsletter, but here we are. 

At first, I thought, "nah, too basic," but when I looked at it again, I thought this article did more than just talk about fear of flying. It's a good breakdown of exposure therapy, which can be so helpful for people experiencing extreme anxiety and OCD. 

This article highlights the benefit of exposure therapy in manageable, practical steps. Worth a scan and then a deeper dive into sections that interest you.

Read why the new mental health crisis line is facing a huge problem

Why this short Slate article matters for your mental health

This is a big deal. If we can't get workers for the mental health crisis line, we don't have a crisis line to support people in the worst moments of their life.

And what about the mental health of the mental health workers themselves who have to answer calls at all hours of the day? This gave me a lot of good questions to think about.

My mom reminded me how much I love this beautifully powerful poem by Rudyard Kipling

Why this poem matters for your mental health

If is one of those poems that stay with you long after you read it. 

I had forgotten how much I loved it until my mom emailed it to me recently. But I hadn't forgotten its message. 

Wisdom is like that. You just know it to be true, and it stays in your bones, supporting you wherever you go. It's why I wrote In Search of Happiness: Healing Through Mental Health Poetry years ago. I felt there was truths I had to make sense of and get out of my head to share with others.