Week of Me

Last week was my self-proclaimed "Week of Me." I was coming off my final week of classes and felt very stretched, so I decided that the next week would be a "Week of Me." Mostly, it was a way to get me through that hard final week of class - I kept telling myself to hold on because my Week of Me was coming. But, of course, a promise to ourselves is only motivating if we can trust ourselves to keep it, and keep it I did! 

During the preceding week, I made a list of all sorts of things I thought would feel good or exciting or nurturing. Every time I thought of something I wished I was doing instead of slogging through that final paper, I added it to the list. And I'll tell you, it felt so good to add things to a "Week of Me" list rather than just pushing those desires aside because I had to study.

My goal during my Week of Me was to do ten things from my list. I didn't have to do them all (this was about freedom, not burden), and I was ready to hit the week with a list chock full of things that would feel rejuvenating. 

Here's what I learned:

1. Whether or not something qualified for "Week of Me" was totally subjective. There were plenty of things on the list that would look to anybody else like soul-sucking chores. But I thought they would feel sweet to do, so they made the list. Honestly, with many of these things, if I told myself I "had" to do them, they would have felt depleting, but since I told myself I "got" to do them, they felt like kindnesses. This isn't just a brain hack; it really did feel different when I put something on the list and thought about how it would feel good to do it.
2. Knowing that I had a "Week of Me" coming sustained me through my final week of class. It felt motivating and kind that I had healing time coming.
3. It was really important to me that I kept this promise to myself. I take the commitments I make to others very seriously, but sometimes it's easy to let commitments to myself slide. Lately, I've been working to carefully consider and then purposefully follow through with commitments to myself. I'm worth it. If I were going to promise this week to myself, then I was going to take it. 

It was a lovely experiment, and I'm still ticking things off the list because those things still seem like kindnesses to myself. Except for climbing Mt. Timpanogos... I don't know who I think I'm being kind to with that one...

Serving in Belize

As I complete my MA in Clinical Mental Counseling Program at Concordia University Irvine this fall, I will participate in an impactful and exciting service opportunity. I will travel to Belize from November 9-15, where we will provide much-needed mental health services to a local community.

Purpose of the Trip

During our time in Belize, our primary focus will be supporting students and teachers of an underserved community by providing mental health counseling and teacher support. Based on the needs identified by the local school’s principal, we will deliver counseling sessions to make a powerful difference in the local community. We will offer effective and immediate support, helping students and educators manage stress, improve well-being, foster a healthier school environment, and learn ongoing skills for improved mental health. This community experiences many effects of poverty: violence, instability, and chronic stress. We get to partner with local aid organizations to support kids and their caregivers in their deep need.

Impact and Learning

This trip is an opportunity to invest in a community in need and an invaluable component of our professional development as future mental health counselors. Coming alongside communities in need in Latin America has been a big part of my life and my family’s story over the past decades. I am excited to expand that focus to Belize this fall.

How You Can Help

Every team member has agreed to build a prayer and financial support network. The cost of this trip comes in addition to our regular tuition payments, and there are a lot of costs to cover. I would be honored if you would join my support team. You can support me by making a one-time gift using Venmo @Jamie-Morningstar or PayPal morningstarje@gmail.com (or contact me to help with the trip another way). I will use any amount, large or small, to invest in the local community and make this mission trip successful.

I am deeply grateful for any support you can provide. Your generosity will aid me in my professional growth and make a lasting difference in the lives of those we serve in Belize. After I return, I look forward to sharing my experiences and the impact of our work with you.

Thank you for considering supporting our mission. Together, we can bring hope, healing, and empowerment to a needy community.

Sincerely,

Jamie

Burnout

Burnout feels like one of those topics people mention a lot but few people take the time to understand, kind of like trauma or NFTs. We throw the word around, we have a general sense of the meaning, but we (ironically) don't pause to dive in. So, here's my short treatise on burnout, because it's pretty interesting and very applicable. 

From a clinical perspective, Burnout came of age in the 1980s when researchers identified three core elements of burnout:

1. Emotional exhaustion: no more f**ks to give
2. Depersonalization: cynicism or low care for "them"
3. Diminished accomplishment: feeling ineffective or losing confidence

Burnout sucks. It sucks for the people going through it; they feel like failures and empty shells. Burnout is this sense of constantly being out of synch at work, where no amount of effort can dig you out.

Burnout sucks for organizations and teams as well. There are many correlates between burnout and workplace success. For example, burnout scores in teachers predict educator-coworker harassment, student misbehavior, and the quality of the teacher-child relationship. Similarly, professional accomplishment is related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Exhaustion and cynicism are related to turnover and work-to-family interference.

It usually takes a long time for us to find our way into burnout, and it can take a long time to recover, restore, and make our way through it. But it can be done! We can find our way to the other side of burnout. Here are a few things that can help with burnout at work - we may not be able to do all of these things, but we can all do some of them:

• Workload — negotiate the amount of work to be done in a given time.
• Control — find or advocate for the opportunity to make choices and decisions, solve problems, and contribute to the fulfillment of responsibilities. 
• Reward — increase financial and social recognition for contributions on the job.
• Community — raise the quality of the social context at work.
• Fairness — create consistent and equitable rules for everyone; ensure the quality of justice and respect at work.
• Values — identify what matters to the individual in their work. Find ways to increase the degree of consistency between personal values and the values inherent in the organization.

Burnout is directly linked to our performance and enjoyment at work. We can do something about it, one day and one decision at a time. 

What’s your most powerful tool in protecting against burnout or recovering from feeling burnt out? For me, it's all about control. If I feel like I have a voice in decisions that affect me, then I can make it through almost anything. But if I feel like a pawn in somebody else's chess game, that's a fast path to burnout. What works for you?