Adulting, Chapter 3: Basic Distress Tolerance Skills

Everyone experiences overwhelming emotions sometimes. It’s not an experience unique to people who are neurodiverse or in recovery. We will all feel overwhelmed from the loss of a loved one at some point. And who goes through life without ever having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? It would blow my mind toContinue reading “Adulting, Chapter 3: Basic Distress Tolerance Skills”

Adulting, Chapter 2: Weekly Scheduling and Planning

Last week, we focused on tools for cultivating self-awareness one day at a time. This week, we’re focusing on short- and mid-term planning. Specifically, we’ll be talking about how to create a weekly schedule that you can actually use. Why bother with weekly scheduling or planning? With mounting frequency, I find myself staring into theContinue reading “Adulting, Chapter 2: Weekly Scheduling and Planning”

Adulting, Chapter 1: Daily Maintenance

Welcome back to Join Rise Be’s Adulting series! In this first installment, I’ll cover 2 basic organizational tools I use: A daily maintenance checklist A wellness inventory Not exactly mind-blowing drops of wisdom, but bedrock ain’t the most elegant stuff unless you’re surveying the Grand Canyon. The beauty of this system emerges at scale. WhyContinue reading “Adulting, Chapter 1: Daily Maintenance”

JRB’s New Adulting Series

Join Rise Be is a peer-run initiative for emerging adults (ages 18-29) in recovery. We define recovery as an internal shift from the inability to overcome challenges into a manageable state of self-awareness where growth is attainable. And in many ways, doesn’t that feel like growing up? Ain’t recovery the process of coming to recognizeContinue reading “JRB’s New Adulting Series”

Stop Giving Things 100%

I quit giving things 100%. I have a pervasive pattern of perfectionist boom-bust cycles where I overcommit, underperform, burn out, recoil, then lie supine, staring at my bedroom ceiling as I haphazardly count the seconds until I’m flooded with shameful relief from flaking. I have disrupted this pattern, but I don’t yet feel I’ve liberatedContinue reading “Stop Giving Things 100%”

Keep Going…

There will be days where the only thing you can feel is nothing. What was once human is now merely an empty shell. Sometimes the emptiness finds you for absolutely no reason at all. And sometimes, the emptiness finds you because everything you have ever experienced up until this moment, has led you here. YouContinue reading “Keep Going…”

Building Your Own Wellness Toolkit: WRAP + DBT Diary Cards

One of the frustrating things about more traditional approaches to mental health is the emphasis on ‘working the program’ exactly as it’s prescribed. There is wisdom in many of the tools offered by the traditional mental health system. That said, most people who have been in recovery for a long time have necessarily experienced aContinue reading “Building Your Own Wellness Toolkit: WRAP + DBT Diary Cards”

“Beginner’s Mind” or “Mindfulness for People Who Hate Meditation”

I stopped making almost any art for about 10 years. When I enrolled in community college, I took Drawing I my first semester. My teacher had the patient and attentive attitude of a blue-ribbon rose gardener. She encouraged us to adopt a growth-oriented mindset. She wanted us to view challenges and failures as opportunities toContinue reading ““Beginner’s Mind” or “Mindfulness for People Who Hate Meditation””