Hey DoSomething Members,

We’re still riding the wave of creativity all the way to mental wellness, and so are thousands of you! We’re still riding the wave of creativity all the way to mental wellness, and so are thousands of you! We couldn’t be more excited to see so many of you creating community by sharing your works of art at our Mind Craft Showcase. Your enthusiasm goes to show that art truly can be a path to healing. Wowza!

We’re in a time when things like social media, changes in the economy, and the political landscape shaping legislation are drastically affecting the livelihoods of young people. These stressors can be a heavy burden, and we know that mental health is on your minds. Art is not only an outlet to express our deepest feelings, but it’s also a way to come together and build community.

We’re not the only ones who see the bridge between mental health and creativity, though! Researchers have been working on a new initiative to identify the connection between drawing and lowering anxiety. Sarah Myruski, Assistant Research Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of the Emotion Development Lab shared, “we found that in young adults, this [drawing and mindfulness] activity helped reduce anxiety symptoms in the moment and reduced cardiac arousal, enhancing their physiological relaxation in the moment... and reduced their anxiety up to one week later.” And Bill Doan, Professor of Theatre at Penn State and Director of the University’s Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI) noted, “my argument has long been that a number 2 pencil and a piece of paper addresses the accessibility problem [related to managing anxiety].” Love to see it! Read the full article here.

Sharpen your number 2 pencil and join Mind Craft today!

Let’s Do This!
DoSomething

Our Mind Craft community is showing out! Here are a couple of members letting us know how they take care of their mental wellness.

DoSomething member Canvas K., 16 said "This artwork is called Eternal Flowers. At the start of figuring out what I wanted this piece to be, I was struggling to mentally grasp the concept of death. I wanted to create a painting that showcased the beauty in death itself. To produce Eternal Flowers I experimented with mediums such as gouache, watercolor, and acrylic. The tiny brushstrokes and immense concentration that was required to paint this work allowed me to have some time to think. I began to grow more and more relaxed at the thought of the afterlife. For this reason my painting is called Eternal Flowers. Everyone's death is for eternity, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. The radiating skull that is submerged in the dark flowers represent the beauty of life and the afterlife, and the flowers around it represent dying. Together between the dark flowers, and the contrast with the bright skull they form something glorious. This process improved my mental health because everything about the planning, creation, and finished piece represents my mental journey in figuring out death."

"Going on wheel for me is extremely therapeutic; it helps me center and calm myself, and it allows me to put the frustration of my day into the clay I work with." said DoSomething member Lelani W., 17, "This piece in particular means a lot to me since I've spent over six months trying and failing to create a vase shape; this pitcher was the first time I succeeded. I can remember many times where I got angry at myself for not being able to create a vase shape and being able to finally do it gave me a huge boost of confidence as well as a good dose of happiness I'd bee missing."

Inspired yet? Join these DoSomething members and submit your own personal creative work.

Some inspo for thought… Young people around the world are working hard every day to leave their communities in better shape than they found them. Check out this incredible story from the UN about these trailblazing leaders.

There’s no stopping us…  A new bill, the Youth Voting Rights Act, is in the works to help create a smoother pathway to voting for young people including federal pre-registration at 16. This would help increase voter turnout, and help you make your voice heard loud and clear at the polls!

Hey NYC members… The Robin Hood Teen Council is inviting NYC high school students to a free screening and discussion of their latest short film about how young people were inspired to tackle food insecurity during the pandemic and move 100 million pounds of produce to community food banks. Who says young people can’t get things done? Owen Dubeck, Creative Director of The Farmlink Project will be joining the conversation. To RSVP email Marianne Macrae Robin Hood’s Managing Director of Family Philanthropy, at Macrae@robinhood.org. It’s going down Friday 9/22 6:00pm - 7:30pm EST at the Robin Hood office, 826 Broadway – 9th Floor.

Today in sports… For a long time, LGBTQIA+ athletes have faced tremendous barriers when it comes to participating in sports. PUMA and The Trevor Project have teamed up to help #ReformTheLockerRoom. Talk about a home run!

Women making history… In Mexico, the top contenders for the presidency are two women, meaning that the country is on track to elect its first woman president. Heyoooo!

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