Some of the best advice I have received from my Midwestern grandfather is to “stop burning the candle at both ends.” When I think about what burnout looks and feels like to me, it feels like that candle is about to run out of wax between the flames. Although I...
In honor of International Day of Happiness on March 20th, I invite you to take two minutes to do a simple experiment: 1) Take a mental note of how you are feeling right now. Just notice it without doing anything else. 2) Now, just like Peter Pan trying to fly, think...
The mind can be so tricky when you don’t understand how it works. I grew up thinking that I must believe the thoughts I have about myself, and that’s exactly what most people do when they don’t understand. I personally suffered with insecure thinking about myself and...
While it hasn’t always been this way, schools are more aware of not only the educational needs of its students, but their mental needs as well. From introducing mental health week curricula, school-sponsored awareness events, and access to social workers, there are...
As 2021 comes to an end, so does our time with our first SPARKING Change Youth Leadership Internship program cohort. We want to thank each of you who donated to our inaugural year, last year. At the end of 2020, we raised $42,000 for this new program, and every penny...
I did not know I was suffering. Like a fish that would never understand what water looks like, I had no idea that my experience of “normal” was poor mental health. It was an honest mistake; mental health issues are the main narrative of my family story. Alcoholism....
