Resistance to Conformity: Balancing Authenticity with Community

I’d like you to please welcome a new writer on the Yopp platform, Eleni Stephanides! She’s here to talk about the complexities of conformity: the damage it can do, and the benefits it can yield when used well. 

Everything You Need to Know About Boundaries

Boundaries are magic.  They are protective and allow us to navigate our life as empowered and autonomous individuals.  Most of us come to learn our boundaries through trial and error, and may not get good support around forming or establishing boundaries in relationships.  As we approach a season of gatherings, including those with family we don’t have good relationships with, taking intentional time to reflect on who we’re connected to and how we want those connections to look can be valuable.

The Things Our Pets Can Teach Us About Self-Care

As a change of pace, I’m offering you this lovely, silly self-care article, with the hopes that it both gives you good reminders for healthy habits to practice during the pandemic, and also gives you a laugh. Rats got a pretty bad rap in previous pandemics, and apparently, they’d like to make it up to us.

Article on Medium: Why Does Everything Feel So Hard Right Now If I’m Fine

Soon after the beginning of the pandemic, I found that if I didn’t work hard to use my systems and tools meant to support my mental health, my functionality would quickly deteriorate. I frequently felt like I wasn’t okay and also that I had no business feeling that way.

Recovering from Abuse: Was Everything My Fault?

I have a large number of friends who have been through at least one kind of abuse and I’ve noticed that if someone has gone through the process of recovering from abuse at least once, it becomes much more important to them to evaluate future behaviors as potentially abusive. But having the intense desire to avoid ever suffering abuse again, and actually identifying abuse are two very different things.

What You Can Do to Close the Camps

I’ve compiled a list of actions to take in response to the recent news of the concentration camps for immigrants. If you’re here just for the list of resources and don’t need any background info, skip past the intro straight to the first heading, “First Step is to Pick Your Next Step”. Priority #1 is to close the camps.