This holiday season, the RAPP team wishes a very happy, safe holiday season to the Truman community!
While many people are excited over the break, holidays can be stressful for teens. Teens can experience a range of experience during the holiday’s, from family, travel, food, desserts and gifts, to homework, school projects, tension, isolation and loneliness.
How do you avoid stress and keep your holiday spirits high? Here are some tips, from Psychology Today –
So, as a teen how can you cope with the holiday blues? Here is a thought… you could write about your feelings. While you may be thinking, “The last thing that I want to do is write over my break…” think again. Don’t associate this type of writing with school work and the infamous red pen. Rather think of it as a vehicle of emotional exploration; a way to channel difficult feelings into healthy and creative outcomes.
This type of writing, also known as journaling, is a form of free self-expression that leads to exploration and personal growth. By writing down your thoughts and feelings you are forced to slow down and pay attention to everything that is going on in your life. You have to listen rather than run away from your feelings. So go ahead and grab a pen and paper and start journaling.
Open your mind beyond the scope of academic writing and think of it as something liberating and healing… It has been said that writing is window to the soul. Writing is a creative form of artistic expression that allows you, the author, to explore his or her inner most emotions all while painting a colorful masterpiece with words.
Writing has a lot in common with art. Just like a painter uses a canvas, an author uses a blank piece of paper or computer screen. Just like the painter chooses from a palette of color, the author chooses from a palette of words and expressions. Just like a painter uses a brush to stoke his or her ideas to life the author uses the stroke of a key pad or the inscription of a pen to open a window to the soul. And when that window opens, healing can begin.
Yes, writing, is a very therapeutic tool. The beauty of journaling is that it is not bound by grammatical rules or sentence structure. There is not a “red pen” waiting to mark errors, fragments, or run-ons. Rather it is a flow of free expression allowing you the opportunity to pour out your inner most thoughts on a page. Journaling regularly can bring a sense of peace and tranquility.
Did you know that journaling has been shown to help you de-stress, eat healthier, boost self-confidence, and help you solve your own problems? When you express your feelings through written expression; you are beginning to work through your problems, rather than avoiding them. Writing is a wonderful therapeutic tool to help you keep your emotions in check. Plus, it’s easy, free and good for you. What more can you ask for? So reach for a pen and paper this holiday season and defeat the “Bah Humbug” blues. Open the window to your soul and with the stroke of a pen, paint your own emotional masterpiece.
Did you know that journaling has been shown to help you de-stress, eat healthier, boost self-confidence, and help you solve your own problems? When you express your feelings through written expression; you are beginning to work through your problems, rather than avoiding them. Writing is a wonderful therapeutic tool to help you keep your emotions in check. Plus, it’s easy, free and good for you. What more can you ask for? So reach for a pen and paper this holiday season and defeat the “Bah Humbug” blues. Open the window to your soul and with the stroke of a pen, paint your own emotional masterpiece.
“I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.”
Vincent van Gogh
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou