Mental Health Calendar!

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Hello, reader. 

This August, many of us are still stuck at home, or are trying to stay at home as much as possible. It’s been a tough year, and it feels like there’s no end to all this misery. All the tragic events of 2020 have probably taken a toll on you, physically and especially mentally. 

We should know, we’ve felt it too. 

So this month, we wanted to focus on helping others get their mental health back on track by introducing a mental health activity calendar. 

It's like an advent calendar - but instead of waiting for jesus, you take care of your mental health. 

With all the lack of social interaction, we decided to make themes for the calendar to somewhat fill in the holes of these missing interactions and to help find ways for anyone willing to practice this calendar to vent out stress. More on that on the next post. 

We aim to encourage people to still make the most of what they can given our situation. We can still be happy (more importantly, mentally well), just with some minor adjustments.

Come join the ride.

-Basti, Jamie and Olan

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31 august

Before the month ends, we would just like to say thank you for being with us through this journey.

For the last activity, I decided to highlight the importance of being with your friends to your mental wellbeing. As an extrovert, the social interaction from friends really fires me up, and while Zoom will never replace real life meetings, it will suffice for now.

And probably due to the pandemic, a lot introverts out there are also feeling at least some need to socialize again, after being deprived for over 5 months now. 

-Basti

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30 august

We had this webinar for one of our courses "Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction." So me being the "I love to learn" kid, I sat there and watched and listened to the whole thing. To be honest, I expected it to be a little boring, but I found it really interesting! Learning things, concepts, and common practices, it's really really cool!

-Olan

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29 august

It’s my 18th birthday! On weekends we’re supposed to wake up early to do some house chores but today I requested my family to wake me up later than usual, to have extra time for rest. I was thankful to celebrate my birthday inside our house because I did not want to have an extravagant celebration as well. Being grateful for this simple celebration made me realize that the mental health calendar was effective because I felt genuine happiness on my birthday.

-Jamie

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28 august

Three weeks ago I made ulam, but today I made desert for everyone.

It’s always been in my bucket list to make apple pie (and the caramel sauce) by myself. Initially, I though it would be hard, but it’s actually pretty easy! I even got to weave my top crust. Even if it’s not as convenient as just buying it, the gratification and skills I gain by making food from scratch is worth it.

-Basti

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27 august

It is very important to physically take care of oneself to provide calmness to the mind. So on take care Thursdays, I pampered myself by doing a facial treatment (which was approved by our dermatologist). And also because I've been breaking out HAHAHA!

- Jamie

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26 august

One thing I enjoy that’s most likely not made for my age bracket are late night shows (very late night, it’s already midnight the next day by the time I finish). I really enjoy them, especially their monologues, which always get me laughing out loud.

-Basti

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25 august

My brother used to play the guitar, and long story short, I was always amazed. Though I was amazed, I never had a guitar of my own to play. I wanted him to teach me but he was always busy, and he never found teaching me with having to exchange the guitar around each time entertaining. So when my cousin from America bought a guitar here in the ph, he left it here for me! And from there, I started playing the guitar! Today, I missed it a lot, so I thought why not exercise my talent. It was a good day :>

-Olan

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24 august

Watching our favorite show with our favorite people is not just goals, but a god-tier way of spending time with each other. Since we're all frustrated with our academic requirements, what better way to relax (and temporarily forget) than watch a comedy show with your friends?

-Jamie

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22 august

I was stressedt by acads, omayghad what a heavy pile of reqs huhu. Instead of starting on it immediately, I believe I should get rid of stress for a while and game LOL. I played the popular game of among us with a few friends, we actually ended up playing till 3am LOL. It was a good bonding moment with my friends and a good way to vent my stress away. (I finished the reqs I needed easily the next day :>>)

-Olan

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23 august

Of course, besides educating oneself, one must also take part in political discourse, and express their own opinions, the freedom to do so being a trait of a true democracy. Expressing oneself is not only through looks, it is also through your opinions and thoughts.

-Basti

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21 august

For foodie fridays, since it's a tradition of the family to treat ourselves every Friday for all the hard work we've been doing all week, I decided to make myself a homemade matcha smoothie. Because one, it's very easy to make and two, because it is my go-to comfort food and it makes my tummy happy :>.

- Jamie

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20 august

I really appreciate the freedom that dlsu gives to its students in terms of dress code. Coming from a strict Catholic school, I would’ve never been able to grow my hair this long, or to color it, like I did today. For me, a simple change in hair style or color is enough to help express your self identity.

-Basti

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19 august

I DANCED! I was talking with some friends and stumbled across the topic of our old PE dance in our last term of grade 11, and oddly enough, I missed it. So today, I called my brother out to come and dance with me. We tried recreating the dance I originally did, and after I actually did it, I was EXHAUSTED! But my brother was hysterically laughing at me LOL. It was a fun day!

-Olan

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18 august

With just timing and a great eye, nothing will hinder you from finding and capturing the most beautiful sunsets even inside your houses. Especially now that we're in a pandemic, we are required to stay inside the safety of our own homes. Photography is a recreational activity of mine as it helps my mind focus on something else and gives me a break from my problems. So for tuesday talents, here’s a photo of a sunset taken from inside our house.

-Jamie

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17 august

Before the pandemic, me and my family would go and attend mass every sunday, and ever since the start of quarantine, we haven't been able to. But me and my brothers thought to go do that with our family! Sadly though, my little brother was busy with school, and my older brother was helping him. My parents were there, but they weren't necessarily comfortable being in the pic. It was a good bonding moment with my parents though!

-Olan