This weeks podcast is with Adrianna , Cindy, Emma, and Nahjeera . We had a special guest Woodeline, who is Adrianna’s aunt. Woodline is a 23 year old student at  CUNY Medgar Evers College. She came into talk about her experiences in life and gave her views on the topic of how does your culture shapes you as a person.

Everyone had different ethnicity and different views on current topic questions.

Emma is half Brazilian and Colombian. Adrianna, Woodeline , and Cindy are Haitian American . Nahjeera is African American.

Everyone gave their input about how if you act differently because you need to change your identity or show less of your culture to the world, everyone gave their honest opinion about how they show  themselves to the world.

We hope you enjoy this podcast click here to watch

What is your culture? How do you define your culture? How has it shaped you as a person?

To check out our Summer Interns other podcasts, click here

Hey guys! We are here with the TurningPointCT interns: Adrianna and Nahjeera along with Eliza and Adrianna’s aunt Woodeline!

We left the office for a little while to go across the street to The Norwalk Green and enjoy the sunlight and Summer air.

At the start of every SMART Recovery meeting we all check in with highs and lows- now we are at the Norwalk Green to hang out and check in about our Summer!

How is your Summer going? What is your low and your high of the season and break? Check in with us on this post!

To see more of our interns check out our YouTube page here

and listen to their other videos and podcasts in our media room here

In this podcast we spoke about vaping and smoking. All of us are in high school, some of us just finished our freshman year and Nahjeera is is graduating this year.

Emma, Adrianna and Nahjeera all vape, but Cindy doesn’t and really does not like smoking.

We all talked about why we vape, and when we started. Some of us were in middle school when we started, and others tried it and then stopped for a while.

We spent a lot of time talking about why people vape, including our friends. Vapes come in a ton of flavors, and a lot of us only do it for the taste, or because friends suggested it for stress. Eliza lead us in a conversation about why our friends like to vape, and if we want to stop.

our views on vaping and smoking, why we smoked and why don’t.

Some people smoke because of popularity or  as a coping mechanism. We also talked about how advertising makes people smoke more, and why some of us wouldn’t try certain flavors, like tobacco.

A lot of our friends in high school vape, and we talk about how addictive it is and if we think we are addicted.

We all talked about how we would quit if we ever decided to, and how we could help our friends quit if they asked us for help.

If you have ever vaped and want help, or just want to hear about it from the perspective of a high school, then check out our first summer podcast!

A few months ago, Eliza and Diamond (our SMART group facilitators!) were at one of our high schools, talking about vaping during lunch. To check out what that was like, click here.

In this podcast we talk about coming of age as teenagers and growing up. Also we explain our experiences and stories of coming of age.

Check out TurningPointCT’s newest podcast- our Summer Interns are here! And they are introducing themselves and taking about Coming of Age. What does that mean? What defined coming of age for you? How do you navigate growing up and becoming a teenager or a young adult? Click this link to watch their podcast, or if you would prefer to watch it as a video, check out this link!
Please welcome Adrianna, Cindy, and Nahjeera to the TurningPointCT team and check out their very first podcast and video!

If you want to say hi to us go to our forum here

There are a lot of people who will ask, in most any plethora of scenarios:

“Tell me a list of traits you’re proud of.”

“What are some positives?”

“Give me a reason why you’re a good person.”

We always sit there listening to nothing but that off-beat clock on the wall, avoiding awkward looks that seem to give the gist of, ‘well I tried I’ll see you next week I guess’, as we attempt rather poorly to come up with just one pitiful answer.

One.

You know how disgusting it is? To not look yourself in the mirror? To see not glass, but broken shards? The past? The scars and fears? The demons lurking over your shoulders in every corner of those four walls?

All it ever took, was that one answer to get going. To get anyone going.

So who am I? Not by definition of one fucked up stigmata so screwed into my core, blaring like a goddamn police siren every time someone asks, “What’s wrong?”

My answer? What else but, “Fine.”

It’s not fine. But I can tell you what is.

Who am I but talented. You know that one professor you have that kicks your ass with work? Makes you think outside of the realm of reason? I had one. She made me think, made me understand things… And even then I was presented with a new word to my arsenal: ‘Polymath’. In layman’s terms it means having the ability to be good a great many tasks but still being shit to yourself. I was always my worst critic, and still continue to be to this day.

Who am I but selfless. I have always emphasized that the ability to make someone smile would be greater than anything. So I cultivated that. I grew with that in my heart, and with that came another greater term: empathy. The ability to know and understand, to learn and guide… Where someone falls, you should know I will have my hand right there for you to help you back to your feet. Compassion, in its more pure form and reality, comes from the most deplorable of lifelines.

Who am I but resilient. Know where you come from, but why let it drown out who you are now? It’s useless to continue to lick those wounds, pick at scabs that continue to bleed and blind you day in and out. It took me years to realize it, yes, but once you let go and live. You’re actually alive. Abuse, night terrors, addictions, starvation tactics, self-harm and mutilation… The list worsens from there, but it takes a real strong mind, body, and soul, one that is steadfast and vigil, to overcome, oversee, and make peace with it all.

Who am I?

I am someone who deserves not the toil and tremor of depression, the affliction and pitfalls of trauma, the snares and fears of anxiety. I can learn and expand beyond even those.

I am someone who does not need this wall that blockades me from the world; sheltering me from everyone and everything, surrounding me in my fear and degradation. By one foul brick and mortar at a time, I am greater than this and the masks I’ve put up to keep everyone at bay.

I am someone who knows she is limitless with potential, yet nowhere near some gross definition of perfection.

I am worthy. I am good. I am —

Fine!

-Submitted by: Faljak

Talk with the creator of this expression and join the conversation here

I – You – Me – Us.
We.
Remember what you say this day. And those therein.
Verbatim.

No one knows your strife, who you were in a redacted essence.
Your wits and good guidance be-damned and screwed to the sticking place
Lest we all fall back into a cycle,
Over and over,
Tilting back into that same phase of incriminating definition;

You know your stigmata,
Be it so bright it blinds those who look at you now?

Hear they not our cries and pleas?
Our so-called excuses for restitution of reality that we greedily seek?
Drugs and antidotes and therapies so fruitlessly plundered
From the ministry and hierarchy
Normality, we ask so wantonly;

But to be normal would be to lose who we have become or what we have aimed for,
We are as we have always been so leave us are we are

I – You – Me – Us.
We.
Remember what you say this day. And those therein.
Verbatim.

Submitted by: faljak

Hey Guys! It’s Recovery month this month, check out what Luca’s got to say about it and check out his blog “Heavy Metal Recovery” on our forums

Its almost the end of National Poetry Month. I just want to share a final poem before the month ends. Of course, many more to come.

The theme of this poem is perseverance. It looks at the idea that each day might come to an end but our individual fight continues.

-Kevin

Last week, when Collin was given the opportunity to design an emotion wheel with images to represent each emotion, he instantly thought of “Little Miss Sunshine.” Little Miss Sunshine of course represents “Happy,” but some of the other characters like “Mr. Tall” soon became “Mr. Lonely,” mostly because he’s the only one at that height!
Collin’s creativity truly captures the emotions of these characters. 🙂

Artist: Collin

Bri’s favorite color is purple, last week she identified “feeling happy is the color purple,” so it was no surprise that when she designed her advocacy T-Shirt, she chose it to be purple. On the front of her shirt, she included a pocket square and on the back it says “To try is to succeed.”
A beautiful interpretation of breaking the stigma!
Artist: Brianna

It’s Okay to Talk  – Collin’s a big advocate for mental illness. One of his goals while designing his T-Shirt was to design a baseball tee for young adult men. He specifically chose this population because it’s very difficult for men to express emotion due to the stigma of needing to be strong and emotionless. He was inspired by OK2TALK.org which is all about advocacy and talking about mental health. On the front of the shirt, it says #It’sOkaytoTalk and on the back it says “No Man Left Behind”
Artist: Collin

Hailey created an emotional wheel using words that describe her life. Although all of the words are considered “negative,” she particularly chose words that most young people would relate to.
In each section, she drew and wrote dialogue between characters to represent each emotion.
For Example: Avoidance for Hailey looks like a pile of pages flying around everywhere and the character’s hands are covering her head, she says “If I don’t think about it, maybe it will go away?”

Artist: Hailey

You Are Not Alone in the Dark – Kim designed a gray T-Shirt that says “Shine a Light” with an image of a match in the pocket square glowing. On the back of her shirt, she wrote “Warrior, Fighter, Survivor.” Each word is written in the color of a flame. Bright and bold contrast with the dark T-Shirt, she is sure to stand out from the crowd! Kim shared with the group that she wants to bring this design to her NAMI chapter on campus to actually use this design for a shirt. What a great idea!
Artist: Kim

Sara is inspired by Toby Allen’s illustration of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) monster. Relative to the anxiety monster, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Monster can be found stalking battlefields or lurking near traumatic events and natural disasters, feeding off the collective trauma and fear. On her monster’s back are various targets to remind her of experiences. 

Artist: Sara

(more…)

Faded – Accidental Art – For someone who struggles with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), it would seem terrifying and difficult to be told to spill water on your perfectly colored art. Collin faced the challenge and look now at the new creation this water did for it!

-Collin

Geometry – Accidental Art – Geometry may remind you of math class, but this is far from that! This piece was designed to show accidental art in a sophisticated and beautiful way.

Quilt Squares – Accidental Art – When life hands you water and markers, you make a mess!
This piece created by Val was designed to look like patchwork found on a quilt. Each layer is full of colors smeared together, but that’s okay. The anxiety was worth it! 😉

– Val

Smudge! – Sara decided to do the impossible…smudge all of the colors she could and dousing the page in water. It takes incredible strength to let the water take over the art!

–Sara

Life – This piece is colored in marker done by Ayo, young adult in the Middletown Young Adult Connection Group. She graciously energized the tree with color and let her imagination take it away.

-Ayo

Patchwork – This is a collective piece that looks like a quilt of ideas.

Each square is designed by Kim, Val, Shelby, John, and Nanii in 3 minutes.

–Kim, Val, Shelby, John, and Nanii

Geometric Girl – This is a collective piece that became triangle based. Each person added their touch in 3 minutes.

Someone even added in a face!
– Kim, Val, Shelby, John, and Nanii

Flip Me Upside Down – This is a collective art piece completed by the young adult group.

Each artist contributed their own artistic talent to the picture, submitting their own touch to the piece in 3 minutes. This piece is called “Flip Me Upside Down” because the original artist started by drawing trees and hills, but the other artist turn the hills into trees.

Look from both angles and see the full image.
-John, Nanii, Kim, Val, and Shelby

We decided to do collages for group one week and this young adult cleverly created an image full of inspiring words and creative phrases to represent to mind of the girl. #HeatherArt

– Heather

Wellness Warriors – “Claire”  is clairvoyant and sensitive. She uses the 7 chakras to imbue herself with the elements, and can align herself and her teammates. Such Chakras include the root chakra, a firey element that can burn, to the crown chakra, a purple wind that can soothe. Claire also is extremely sensitive to emotions and has strong intuition powers.

-Michael

I love Disney, and was challenged to draw Elsa and Olaf from the movie Frozen!

-Michael

Splat – This dark inner circle describes a girl who has been challenged with many obstacles. Feelings of being forgotten, sadness, and the blank outer shell shown is nothing, but her true self to the world. In the mess of the darkness, she uses watercolors to share her messy yin and yang and the guard dog protecting her from the outer world.

Artist: Savannah

This piece was done by one of our group members at the Young Adult Connection Group in Middletown.

In this watercolor piece, you will see the inner child and soon the outer rings consuming the mind. Words plaguing the brain like “disordered eating” and “social anxiety” are just a few to describe what this young adult tries to hide from the world.
Soft colors mask the darkness behind this piece; blinding us to believe this is a happy, level-headed, lovable person.

Artist: Chelsea

Too many doctors are quick to write prescriptions for pain medication and it is helping to fuel the heroin epidemic in this country. Please be upfront with your doctors if you have a history of substance abuse. If you don’t have that history, please be careful anyway!

http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/missedquestions.page

I LOVE Roger on American Dad. As the delightfully offensive Alien resident in the Smith Household, this sketch is Roger as “Fantasia Lopez” a woman trying to scam “the system.”

I always enjoy cartooning as an alternative to realistic illustration – there is less pressure, and it is always fun to capture the essence of a character.

-Michael