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We’ve all been dealing with the stressors of the pandemic for over 2.5 years now. Whether it be due to uncertainty, the loss of loved ones, lack of routine, or decreased social interaction, I think it is safe to say that the pandemic has had an impact on everyone in some form or fashion. One headline I’ve seen repeated over these 2.5 years highlights the impact of the pandemic on mental health. Despite the unfortunate outcomes of the pandemic, one good thing to come out of this situation has been the increased awareness surrounding mental health. I’ve been dealing with my mental health since high school, and I’ve never seen such a focus on wellbeing until now. Before the pandemic, I had no coping skills and often let the everyday stressors of life seriously impede my daily functioning. Honestly, without the pandemic, I’m not sure where my emotional state would be. In this article, I’ll talk about 6 things that helped me in my journey with emotional self-regulation.
1. Brené Brown Toward the end of my freshman year of college in 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing, I stumbled across Brené Brown, as she was the class of 2020 commencement speaker at UT. For people who don’t know Brené Brown, she’s a social worker, professor (at both UT and UH), lecturer, researcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and podcast host. You may have seen her in the widely viewed TEDx talk from 2010 on shame, vulnerability, and leadership. As for the announcement that she would be the commencement speaker, I didn’t think much of it, but I kept seeing her name pop up here and there. A friend of mine on Facebook reposted something of hers, so I decided to finally check her out. I can’t pinpoint exactly when, but I started listening to one of Brené’s podcasts, “Unlocking Us” on Spotify. I remember turning on my TV in my room at home and beginning to play a podcast called “Brené on FFTs” (an episode on navigating first time experiences). I use this blip in time to mark the beginning of my personal mental wellness journey. Until I listened to her podcast, I’d never heard anyone talk about navigating the human experience in the way that she did. I finally felt like my struggles were both real and valid. I was still seriously struggling emotionally, but it was encouraging to learn about the human experience through the lens of a social worker with years of research and experience in her back pocket.
2. Books In the spring of 2021, I took a seemingly unimportant British literature class for my degree requirement. Over the course of the semester I was required to read a couple books for class. Around the same time, the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute launched SHEreads, their book club. I was on the KS WELI Student Council at the time and decided to give it a shot. I’d been a reader years ago in elementary and middle school, but once high school started, I lost interest in casual reading. However, the combination of my experience with SHEreads and British literature meant there was a lot of reading going on that semester. To my surprise, found myself really enjoying the time I spent reading and analyzing these books. It was that semester that I decided to start an Instagram account for book reviews.
3. Emma Chamberlain Moving along the timeline to fall 2021, I began listening to Emma Chamberlain’s podcast “Anything Goes.” This podcast validated my emotions In the same way that Brené Brown’s podcasts did. This time, however, it was coming from the lens of someone my age. Podcasts like these almost acted as therapy, except I was having the conversations about my mental health with myself. I was listening to Emma’s very similar mental health experiences, reflecting upon them, and relating them to my own situation in order to begin developing my own coping mechanisms.
4. BuildHER with Vaishali Jadhav Another event that impacted my journey was getting to participate in the KS WELI’s Student Board Leadership Experience, BuildHER, with Vaishali Jadhav. The curriculum is heavily based on values-based leadership and I really resonated with that. Having the opportunity to clearly establish my values made me put my life choices into perspective. What are the things that make me happy? What are the actions that make me feel fulfilled? After asking myself these questions, I established clear values of equipping, learning, and vulnerability. Since establishing these values, I’ve made an effort to be intentional about the things I participate in. Are the things that are filling up my schedule aligned with my values? If not, this is when I need to step back and reevaluate.
5. Taylor Swift and Journaling Not long after, I started seriously getting into Taylor Swift, as headlines surrounding her re-recordings were constantly in the news. With the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) and All Too Well (10 minute version) (Taylor’s Version), I decided to buy a journal from Taylor Swift’s online shop. I had been wanting to start journaling for a while, so the purchasing of this journal seemed like the perfect opportunity. It finally came in, and not only was I excited to own some Taylor Swift merchandise, I was excited to explore a practice that I had been wanting to get into for a while. My journaling process doesn’t really have a specific format. I just write whatever I want, whenever I want. In my experience, it was important for me to not put any rules to the practice. There’s no right or wrong way to journal. The important thing was that I was putting my thoughts onto paper, which for me, functioned as a way for my brain to process the million things that were going through my mind.
6. Coffee The last thing that has helped me in my journey with emotional self-regulation is coffee. The good thing about Austin is that there are infinite numbers of coffee shops around the city. At the tail end of the pandemic, when more places began opening up, I began visiting coffee shops in person more often. It wasn’t until then that I realized how much I loved the experience of visiting a coffee shop, buying a drink, and sitting down to study for an hour or two. It got me out of bed, out of my apartment, and made me stop isolating myself into overthinking all the time. With all of the stimuli present in coffee shops, my brain was constantly being entertained and challenged rather than staying stuck in my own thoughts.
About The Author:
Faith Guerrero '23
Management
Student Board Member - VP of SHEReads
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