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A Fresh Start: Wishing You Health, Wellness and Self-Care in the New Year

by JR Kuo | January 2, 2025 | Mental Health, Mindset | 0 Comments

A FRESH START: WISHING YOU HEALTH, WELLNESS AND SELF-CARE IN THE NEW YEAR! Wishing You a Happy New Year Filled with Health, Wellness, and Self-Care As we say goodbye to the past year and welcome in the new one, it’s a great time to reflect on all that we’ve...

End of the Year Reflection

by JR Kuo | December 2, 2024 | Mindset, My Stories | 0 Comments

END OF THE YEAR REFLECTION As this year comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on a journey filled with challenges, growth, learning, and transformation—both personally and professionally. This year has been a testament to the importance of balance, purpose, and...

Random Thoughts

by JR Kuo | November 4, 2024 | Mindset | 0 Comments

RANDOM THOUGHTS My mind is struggling to form singular, cohesive thoughts right now, so this blog will be another collection of different half-baked ideas and questions I've been reflecting on and trying to sort out lately. Storytelling Theater. We have officially...

How Do You Man UP? Seven Ways to Man UP!

by JR Kuo | October 2, 2024 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

HOW DO YOU MAN UP? SEVEN WAYS TO MAN UP! This blog is inspired by a conversation I had with one of my readers, a male immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for decades. He asked during our discussion, “How do you actually man up?” This blog is my attempt to answer that...

Storytelling Theater for Healing

by JR Kuo | September 6, 2024 | Mental Health | 0 Comments

STORYTELLING THEATER FOR HEALING In August, we delivered seven Storytelling Theater’s Red Doors performances/workshops. Since early this year, I have been mentioning Storytelling Theater and Red Doors. Some of you/my readers might still be wondering what...

Compassion/Empathy

by JR Kuo | August 6, 2024 | Mental Health, Mindset | 0 Comments

COMPASSION/EMPATHY Back in February, through the just keep living foundation, I facilitated a mental wellness workshop at Venice High School in Los Angeles. Using blank kites, I asked the students to draw things on them that gave them joy and hope. After...

Home Renovation and Mental Health

by JR Kuo | July 3, 2024 | Mental Health, Mindset, My Stories | 0 Comments

HOME RENOVATION & MENTAL HEALTH I’ve entered a whole new phase of “adulting.” It’s called home renovation. This year, due to various semi-urgent reasons, I started renovating my place. I have years of work experience in both residential and commercial...

Stress Management

by JR Kuo | June 9, 2024 | Mental Health, Mindset | 0 Comments

STRESS MANAGEMENT Stress is a word, a feeling, and an experience that I have been hearing a lot about. Lately, I have to admit I’ve noticed that my stress level has skyrocketed. Back in March, I wrote a blog titled “Why Am I So Stressed?” about the internalized...

Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month

by JR Kuo | May 13, 2024 | Diversity and Inclusion | 0 Comments

Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month May marks the convergence of two significant observances in the United States: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. This intersection presents a...

Trauma-Informed Care

by JR Kuo | April 1, 2024 | Mental Health, Trauma Series | 0 Comments

Trauma-Informed Approach The last time I ran a team was six years ago. This year, I have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to produce and direct the Storytelling Theater for Healing and Social Justice and work with a team of eight amazing individuals. They consist...

Storytelling Theater Ensemble

by JR Kuo | March 8, 2024 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Andrew Nishimoto Andrew Nishimoto is a dedicated family man with a passion for coaching soccer and making a positive impact. Andrew finds joy in both his personal and professional life with his high school sweetheart and wife of 16 years by his side, along with his...

Why Am I So Stressed?

by JR Kuo | March 8, 2024 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement, Travels and Adventures | 0 Comments

WHY AM I SO STRESSED? One of the benefits of solo traveling internationally is the ample time to dive into my own thoughts and deeply reflect on my beliefs, my emotions, and my life. The trip to Southeast Asia in January provided me with this unique...

Anxiety Episode Out From Nowhere

by JR Kuo | February 10, 2024 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement, Travels and Adventures | 0 Comments

ANXIETY EPISODE WHILE TRAVELING IN VIETNAM Part 1 I was very blessed to have the opportunity to spend a big chunk of January in Vietnam and Cambodia. Instead of writing about Vietnamese and Cambodian foods and cultures (there are already tons of these blogs out...

Japan – The Hidden Rules, Food, Cultures

by JR Kuo | December 8, 2023 | Travels and Adventures | 0 Comments

I had the opportunity to spend about two weeks in Japan last month. I was in and out of Tokyo for six days, in Okinawa for four days, and in Kyoto/Osaka for four days. Japanese culture has had a significant influence on my life. Since I was a young lad, I’ve studied...

Men and Mental Health

by JR Kuo | December 8, 2023 | Mental Health, Mindset | 0 Comments

“It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more 'manhood' to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature...

Losing Something Precious

by JR Kuo | October 7, 2023 | Mental Health, Mindset, My Stories | 0 Comments

LOSING SOMETHING PRECIOUS "Sometimes we have to lose something precious not necessarily to gain something priceless; sometimes, just losing is priceless." - Shahid Hussain Raja September was a great, interesting, and turbulent month. A lot of things happened as well...

Avoidance

by JR Kuo | September 9, 2023 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

AVOIDANCE Lately, the word “avoidance” has been popping into my life to the point that I can no longer afford to avoid addressing avoidance. It all started when my friend recommended a podcast interview with Dr. Luana Marques by Mel Robbins. This is what Dr. Marques...

Monkey Mind

by JR Kuo | July 29, 2023 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

Challenge of Unwinding

by JR Kuo | July 7, 2023 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

“I remember my grandfather telling me how each of us must live with a full measure of loneliness that is inescapable, and we must not destroy ourselves with our passion to escape the aloneness.” — Jim Harrison For the past several years, I have been fortunate enough...

Numbness

by JR Kuo | June 4, 2023 | Mental Health, Mindset | 0 Comments

“I'm tired of being what you want me to beFeeling so faithless, lost under the surfaceDon't know what you're expecting of mePut under the pressure of walking in your shoes… … Can't you see that you're smothering meHolding too tightly, afraid to lose control?'Cause...

Too Good to be True

Mindset, My Stories

“Things are going so well like the stars are all aligned! This is too good to be true. I don’t want to jinx it, but I just hope that this ‘luck’ will last as long as it can and doesn’t go away.” Does this sound familiar? This is one of the fears that I’ve...

My Asian Male Rage

Mindset, My Stories, Self-Improvement

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a program, I may earn a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. The intent of this piece is to create awareness about the complexity of assimilation and...

New Year Resolutions that Work

Mindset

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a program, I may earn a commission. This is at no additional cost to you."A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not on...

Year End Reflction

Mindset, Self-Improvement

Photo by Rachel Audette This post contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a program, I may earn a commission. This is at no additional cost to you.“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we...

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion, Mindset

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a program, I may earn a commission. This is at no additional cost to you.Coming from a social justice background, equity and justice are the goals that I am striving...

State of Positive Mind

Self-Improvement

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a program, I may earn a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. "You can begin to make anxiety work for you instead of against you by focusing on one factor...

My Inspiration

My Stories

MY INSPIRATION by JR Kuo l Sep 06, 2019 lFor 25 years of my life, I suffered from chronic depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in 2017 an estimated 17.3 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode,...

Losses and Tributes

My Stories

Losses and Tributes by JR Kuo l Aug 03, 2019 lJuly has been a tough month the last couple of years. July this year is the 2nd anniversary of my mother’s passing. Last July, a dear friend of mine lost her brother. And this July, I lost one of the most important...

Self-Care and Burnout Prevention Plan

Self-Improvement

Self-Care and Burnout Prevention Plan by JR Kuo l July 06, 2019 lIn April 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed work-related stress or burnout as a syndrome. WHO defines “syndrome” as a group of symptoms which consistently occur together, and ties...

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