Wonderemployment

This week I went to the  Center for Youth Wellness's ACEs Conference in San Francisco. It was really special to be able to attend this event because of the personal impact ACEs science has had on me. It changed the way I viewed myself and my life, and has also motivated my interest in public health and prevention. If you are not familiar with ACEs, it stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. A groundbreaking study  from Kaiser and the CDC has found that childhood trauma, such as abuse, neglect, or household disfunction, greatly increases long-term health risks and likelihood of early death. A while back, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris' TED talk on this topic made the rounds on Facebook, and it is worth watching to understand the significance of this research: Being at the conference, studying this in class, AND thinking about early childhood trauma at work has been a bit overwhelming this week (like it may actually be giving me hives), but it is so important, I have to le...

In my new role with San Mateo County, I just wrapped up teaching a five-part class called the Lived Experience Academy. The Academy is a course for people to learn how to tell their stories of lived experience for personal empowerment, community building, and local advocacy. For those unfamiliar with the term, “lived experience” refers to having first-hand experience with mental health challenges. We use the word “lived” to differentiate from mental health professionals or others who may have extensive experience of working with mental health conditions or systems of care, but have not lived through those challenges personally. This distinction is important because for most of history, and still today, people with lived experience have been stigmatized, disempowered, and told that others know what is best for them. Even after maintaining wellness and being in recovery, people with lived experience are often excluded from the workforce and discriminated against in other ways. One reason...

My cousin asked people to write letters to her daughter for her 13th birthday with advice, thoughts, and reflections. I loved the idea, but it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to say. There is so much to say to someone so young. And we are all on such different paths, who knows if any advice is the right advice. I'm not sure that I whittled it down to the right things, but here is my letter. --- Dear Cate, Thirteen is one of the most vivid years of my life, mostly because it was one of the hardest. Many adults will try to tell you how easy you have it now--no responsibilities, no work, no bills to pay-- but I don't know a single adult who would rather be 13 than 30. I don't say this to fill you with dread, but more to let you know that if things feel hard and confusing, it's not just you. It's universal. It's nature's hazing ritual. If you're feeling any pressure that these should be the best years of your life, let it go. There ar...

Often my blog drafts begin as emails to myself that I write during my commute or while I'm traveling. Sometimes they make it straight to the blog, and other times they end up in draft folder purgatory. I was sorting through my emails recently and came across this post that I wrote last summer. It still seems relevant and worth sharing, especially since today is the second anniversary of this blog. This blog has been such a rewarding project for me. It has helped me to think about my experiences in a different way, to open doors for bigger conversations, and to reclaim my long lost love: writing. --- I spent my flight to Minneapolis reading Katie Couric's The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives . I think under regular circumstances I would find the essays a bit cliched. The overarching themes are to be expected: work hard, follow your passions, be kind to others. But I find myself once again with the stirring feeling that I am not where I am supposed...

A while back my mentee G and I were sitting at Starbucks, talking. She's been going through a rough time, and is struggling to get to a stable place emotionally. I tried to help her talk through things and think of some strategies to cope, but in her voice and in her face, I could see that it all seemed insurmountable. She said something along the lines of "I don't think I'm cut out to be happy". I told her that I used to feel that way too, that happiness seemed like something that other people could have, but not me. She looked incredulous and said that I was so positive and cheerful, she could never imagine me being depressed. It meant a lot to hear her say that, because for the majority of my life, I never would have described myself in her words. It also shocked me a bit because I've known her for two years now, watched her fight some difficult emotional battles, yet never shared with her any of my own. For the most part, that was deliberate. The progr...

Each year my organization is invited to participate in the California Friday Night Live Partnership 's Spotlight Festival, a 3-day conference for middle school and high school youth who have worked year-round to learn about problem gambling and create PSA videos addressing this issue in their community. This was my first year getting to attend and it was hands down the best conference I've ever been to. Some of the highlights included an award show, where all the kids dress up, walk the red carpet, and get to talk about their work; a small-group tour of California Adventure to learn about the Disney process of animation; and a full evening to just play at Disneyland. I was so fortunate to get to tag along and experience all this with the teens (and not be directly responsible for chaperoning any of them!). The "price" for getting to attend this festival was that I was asked to conduct a workshop. I present workshops all the time through my job, so it should ...

This year, for the second time, I volunteered to judge student videos for the Directing Change  contest. This initiative is part of California's broader efforts to prevent suicide, reduce stigma and discrimination, and promote mental health and wellness. High school and college students create 60-second videos on one of two themes: Ending the Silence of Mental Illness, or Suicide Prevention . Last year I judged the suicide prevention category, and this year I judged the mental illness one, so I've gotten to see a good mix of videos. The videos are supposed to be geared towards young people (14-24), be hopeful in tone, and include resources for getting help and connecting with others. I signed up to be a judge for this contest because I believe so deeply in this cause. Mental illness is seldom discussed in public except in the context of mass shootings and homelessness. But there are so many other faces of mental illness. We just don't recognize them because they look so o...