JABSOM Library: Library Updates

New Year, New Possibilities

Holiday Closures: 

January 16, 2023 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

New Year's resolutions, everyone is doing it until they aren't. We like to keep ours realistic. This year that means being kinder to ourselves and making time to be happy. 

Here are some of our favorite books in the new year that we hope will help inspire realistic goals for 2023.

Having recently returned from maternity leave, Librarian Melissa’s new favorite book going into the new year is The Mental Load: a feminist comic by French cartoonist, Emma. Melissa's life is literally this book. To be kinder to herself in the new year, she will train her husband and kids somehow to not be like the storyboard below while she sits back and reads this book.   

Library staff Lara enjoys How to Be Perfectly Unhappy by Matthew Inman, aka The Oatmeal. This is a great book for anyone looking for a good laugh or for those looking for inspiration based on reality. In it, the author describes the spectrum of happiness with thought-provoking images. It is a quick read, and we think you just might find something to relate to. 

Since we’re talking about our goals for this year, we hope one of them is taking care of your mental wellness. 

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, some may feel more stressed than relaxed during their time off. After all, preparing for a holiday meal and last-minute Christmas shopping is no small feat. Since January is Mental Wellness Month, remember to check on your loved ones and yourself to see how you are holding up, emotionally and mentally. When we think of New Year’s resolutions, there is often emphasis put on physical wellness, but mental wellness is just as essential and should be a priority in our lives. 

You may wonder what the difference is between mental health (Mental Health Awareness Month is celebrated in May) and mental wellness. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes mental health as “our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also determines how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.” The Global Wellness Institute defines mental wellness as “an internal resource that helps us think, feel, connect and function; it is an active process that helps us to build resilience, grow and flourish.” 

When your mental health is in a good state, it’s called mental wellness, meaning that your mind is functioning as it should be and that you can function positively in your life. Investing in your mental wellness isn’t easy; it takes work to get to and sustain it, but there are ways you can get to mental wellness, such as (1):

• Get to know yourself
• Understand what you can change and what you cannot change
• Understand what your strengths and weaknesses are and build from there
• Develop awareness of your feelings and needs
• Set mental health goals that are achievable and have established time parameters
• Cultivate a healthy and balanced life
• Make time for the relationships in your life

Check out our Wellness Guide for helpful resources and best practices to build wellness into your everyday life.

Links to books:

How to Be Perfectly Unhappy by Matthew Inman

Call Number: Graphic Medicine PN 6231.H35 I575h 2017

ISBN: 9781449433536

Publication Date: 2017-10-31

From Matthew Inman, the creator of the webcomic The Oatmeal, this is a concise book that directly confronts the way we talk about happiness and that it’s just as valid to seek meaning in life as it is to chase Western notions of sunshine and rainbows happiness.

 

The Mental Load by Emma

Call Number: Graphic Medicine HQ 1121 E545c 2018a

ISBN: 9781609809188

Publication Date: 2018-10-23

"Most of us carry some form of mental load--about our work, household responsibilities, financial obligations and personal life; but what makes up that burden and how it's distributed within households and understood in offices is not always equal or fair. In her strips Emma deals with themes ranging from maternity leave (it is not a vacation!), domestic violence, the clitoris, the violence of the medical world on women during childbirth, and other feminist issues, and she does so in a straightforward way that is both hilarious and deadly serious."