My Blog

The “Other Things” That Protect My Mental Health

by | March 6, 2026 | Mental Health, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

  THE “OTHER THINGS” THAT PROTECT MY MENTAL HEALTH   With all the injustice and economic uncertainty happening in the United States, I’ve noticed my mental health taking a hit. In my rearview mirror, I can see my depression slowly creeping closer. In the...
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Let’s Laugh Together

by | February 12, 2026 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

   LET'S LAUGH TOGETHER: TURNING SURVIAL HUMOR INTO COLLECTIVE HEALING I’ve spent years talking about mental health in rooms that were quiet. Sometimes it’s painfully quiet. Quiet because people were listening. Quiet because people were hurting. Quiet because, in...
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From Self-Loathing to Self-Celebration

by | November 22, 2025 | Mindset, My Stories, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

  FROM SELF-LOATHING TO SELF-CELEBRATION ““You’ve survived too much to ever doubt your worth again.” — Unknown A few weeks ago, I did something wildly outside my comfort zone and completely off-script from my usual patterns. I celebrated myself. Even though I’ve...
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The Tutor Who Changed Everything

by | November 7, 2025 | Mental Health, Mindset, My Stories, Self-Improvement, Trauma Series | 0 Comments

As I continue on the journey of learning to grieve my past losses, I have started journaling about the events and experiences that shaped me. The losses I write about are not always about death. They can be a career change, a significant life transition, or the end of...
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We are Bamboos

by | October 3, 2025 | Mental Health, Mindset, My Stories | 0 Comments

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking at the Pacific Clinics Multicultural Family Center, where I shared parts of my journey with mental health and immigration. One of my talks was titled “We Are Bamboos – Thriving Between Two Worlds.” This blog is an...
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Learning to Grieve

by | September 3, 2025 | Mental Health, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

LEARNING TO GRIEVE Grief is an innate human experience. Yet, it’s something that people often don’t like to discuss or don’t know how to process. Traditionally, grief is defined as deep sorrow associated with death. The way I define grief encompasses changes, both...
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Stressed, Again? A Mid-Year Reflection

by | June 25, 2025 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

Why was I So Stressed again? A Mid-Year Reflection   Stress is a pulse in our chest, a tension in our shoulders, a fog in our brain, and impatience with our reactions and behaviors, as well as the people around us. Last year, I wrote about stress from a deeply...
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Reflections on Our Journey with Healthy Communities

by | June 3, 2025 | Mental Health, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

Reflections on Our Journey with Healthy Communities: Bridging Faith and Mental Health   Over the past few months, I’ve had the profound honor of hosting and facilitating six sessions of Healthy Communities: Faith and Mental Wellness (HC). This initiative was more...
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Reframing Uncertainty: Finding Clarity in a Chaotic World

by | April 22, 2025 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

REFRAMING UNCERTAINTY: FINDING CLARITY IN A CHAOTIC WORLD Lately, nearly everyone I talk to has been experiencing some level of anxiety. The world feels heavy. Change is constant, and uncertainty is the norm. Many Americans are deeply anxious about the economy,...
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Bridging Faith and Mental Health – For My Mother

by | April 1, 2025 | Mental Health, My Stories | 0 Comments

BRIDGING FAITH AND MENTAL HEALTH - FOR MY MOTHER Earlier this year, I had the honor of receiving a contract from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for a project titled “Healthy Communities: Faith and Wellness.” The mission of this initiative is to...
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Confront Imposter Syndrome With These Strategies for Self-confidence

by | March 31, 2025 | Guest Blog | 0 Comments

  Confront Imposter Syndrome With These Strategies for Self-confidence By Amy Collett Have you ever felt like a fraud, despite your accomplishments? You’re not alone. Imposter syndrome is a common experience where you doubt your abilities and feel undeserving of...
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Unplug for Mental Health

by | March 7, 2025 | Mental Health, Mindset, Self-Improvement | 0 Comments

UNPLUG FOR MENTAL HEALTH   Since November, I have completely unplugged from all news outlets. Fifteen years ago, I cut the cable TV and stopped watching the news, except for the occasional major sports game on regular TV channels. Five years ago, I stopped using...
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Intersection between Cultures and Mental Well-Being: Insights from Southeast Asia

by | February 7, 2025 | Mental Health, My Stories | 0 Comments

     INTERSECTION BETWEEN CULTURES AND MENTAL WELL-BEING: INSIGHTS FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA In December and January, I had the privilege of exploring and traveling through Southeast Asia, specifically in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This...
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A Fresh Start: Wishing You Health, Wellness and Self-Care in the New Year

by | 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...
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End of the Year Reflection

by | 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...
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Random Thoughts

by | 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...
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How Do You Man UP? Seven Ways to Man UP!

by | 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...
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Storytelling Theater for Healing

by | 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...
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Compassion/Empathy

by | 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...
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Home Renovation and Mental Health

by | 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...
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AAPI Month – Authorized

This blog is written by Natalie Lortz, a guest blogger of CoffeeWithJR.  There are, no doubt, benefits to having an excuse to host Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) centered events and partake in the beauty of local communities. The undeniable sense of pride that...

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Our Stories

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OUR STORIES  As part of the new documentary film project that NamQuyen (Q) Le and I are working on, Rachel, our Director of Photography, and I flew to Louisville, Kentucky in early April to do some scouting and preliminary filming and interviewing. (Detail info of the...

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Improve Your Mental Health With These Unique Ideas

Mental health is just as important as physical health. It’s a growing problem that affects an increasing number of people every year. There are many causes for mental health conditions, including genetic and environmental factors. Moreover, mental illnesses can range...

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Defeated Even Before I Started

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What does failure mean? How do people fail? Why do people fail? What is success? Why is it that certain people are successful and other people are not? What does success even mean? Who gets to define what success is and what failure is? We can all admit that the...

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Panama

I was fortunate to visit Panama in January with a friend and spent about eight days exploring the country. To my surprise, I really love Panama and I can see myself spending more time down there. Here are some of the highlights from Panama and my thoughts and...

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