My name is Autumn Zerendow and I am a Long Term Support Services Coordinator here at South Shore Elder Services. I work with people experiencing disabilities that are varied ages from twenty-one to sixty-four. I assist with helping these members achieve wellness and recovery and to be as independent as possible. Mental wellness is an important piece to overall health that is generally overlooked and neglected. Stress and negative thinking can contribute to symptoms that manifest physically. Recovery can have a variety of definitions but the word I associated with it often is perseverance. It’s experiencing something that is extremely difficult or traumatic and coming back from it. I’ve had my own personal experience with having to recover in my adolescence that has extended into my adult life, and believe that is why I am drawn to the field of human services. I understand how difficult it can be. The way someone thinks about recovery is the indicator on how successful they are going to be with it. Breaking down the process of recovery makes it more manageable and realistic. If you want to change something in your life the best advice I can give you is to just keep going no matter how hard it is. Networking with others that share a similar experience can be a valuable resource to assist on the tough days and great company on the good days.

The ways that I have learned to achieve mental wellness and experience recovery are constantly evolving. I use painting and artistic expression to cultivate wellness and emotional intelligence. This was one of the first activities I began engaging in when I realized how important it was to develop positive healthy coping techniques. When I paint, everything in the outside world stands still and I can be painting for hours and not realize how much time has gone by; it’s a form of meditation for me. I enrolled in a Masters Degree program in Mental Health Counseling to educate myself on how to continue to grow and to help others achieve recovery as well. I can get overwhelmed with the course work and balancing the rest of my life, but I break it down into one assignment at a time and one semester at a time. In my classes we engage in experiential learning by doing mock group therapy and mindful activities. Positive self talk and positive attitudes are imperative to wellness and recovery. Paying attention to what I eat and how much water I am drinking is the most important task of everyday. Gratitude lists are mandatory in my wellness and recovery practice. I list things that I am grateful for and it helps me focus in on the small things that can go unnoticed and get lost within a busy day. I am always a work in progress and never strive for perfection.

Gardening is something I’ve begun to incorporate into my wellness practice this year. I have a small patio area that I planted some roses, lavender, tomatoes, basil and various bright flowers. I’ve been researching evidence based practices about gardening and how positive energy towards the plants assists them with growing. This hobby centers on the basic principle of hope, as I plant I am experiencing hope that these plants will bloom and be healthy. When they did bloom it provided me with a sense that the actions I took to plant them mattered. It was also important how I thought about these plants, the ones I thought would make it bloomed and bloomed. There was one plant that I had some negative thinking about and it began struggling. It ended up shriveling and the leaves burned up but I continued to water it afterwards and new flowers came up from the soil. I moved the plant, thinking that maybe it was in too much sun, trying to learn from my previous experience and it is recovering nicely now. I could have used this experience in a negative way to stop gardening because of the failure of one plant but I made a choice to learn from the experience and not let it set me back. I’ve been researching evidence-based practices about gardening and how promoting positive energy to the plants assists them with growing and my personal experience confirms this. I believe this experience can be related to every area of life. Everyone experiences set backs in life that are difficult. It is important to not let these set backs define who you are, and to use them in constructive ways. Looking at small steps as progress is a great motivating tool when recovery is not happening as quickly as expected or hoped for. Recovery occurs when there is hope, healthy coping skills, self-care, self-love and positive thinking. If you cultivate these things into your life you can achieve wellness despite any of life’s challenges or circumstances.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” –Abraham Lincoln

Autumn Zerendow is a Long Term Service Coordinator at South Shore Elder Services.