{"id":1400,"date":"2025-05-05T16:28:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T20:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/?p=1400"},"modified":"2025-05-05T16:28:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T20:28:01","slug":"find-what-feeds-you-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/2025\/05\/05\/find-what-feeds-you-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Find What Feeds You This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Let\u2019s be honest: the end of the academic year doesn\u2019t always bring relief. The weight of final grades, planning for summer, and the uncertainty hovering over higher ed in Baltimore and beyond can feel like a lot. Because it\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">is<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0a lot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Recently, I&#8217;ve\u00a0found myself swapping wellness strategies with my colleagues in CELTT and the RLB\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u2014<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0everything from the\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">REST<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> acronym to the idea of \u201cfilling our buckets\u201d and building small rituals of joy into the day. One concept that stood out to me was the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/health\/a64589230\/dopamine-boost-dopamenu\/\">dopamine menu<\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, which is a personal list of small, meaningful actions that help regulate stress, recenter your energy, or just give you a reason to exhale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Everyone has their own way of navigating burnout, uncertainty, and the emotional work of this profession. Some find solace in structure, others in spontaneity. For me, this little practice of keeping a dopamine menu has become one of those \u201csmall shifts\u201d that helps me feel more grounded, especially on days I\u2019m working from campus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Here&#8217;s an example for a little inspiration if you&#8217;d like to make one for yourself:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Appetizers<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0(Quick resets):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\">A walk around Gordon Plaza and the UBalt campus, letting my eyes land on something beautiful.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"2\">A cold brew from\u00a0Coffee Olivia.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Playing a word game on my phone without guilt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Main Courses<\/b>\u00a0(Longer resets):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\">An hour in\u00a0The Walters Art Museum\u00a0with no agenda.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Lunch at\u00a0Mera Collective\u00a0or\u00a0Angeli&#8217;s\u00a0Pizzeria, away from my screen.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Reading something not work-related on the 4th floor window corner of the RLB Library.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Sides<\/b>\u00a0(Simple add-ons):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Switching my workspace to the Faculty Commons\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Sometimes just moving to a new table helps.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Curating a soundtrack on YouTube or Spotify that matches my mood or the task.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Writing down one thing that went well, even if it\u2019s small.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Desserts<\/b>\u00a0(Little treats to savor):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Snagging a sweet treat from\u00a0Dooby\u2019s,\u00a0Marie Louise\u00a0or\u00a0Roggenart.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Finding something new to read from Station North Books.<\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Window-shopping or people-watching around Mount Vernon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">You might not need a menu\u2014you might just need a moment. Whatever your version looks like, know that it&#8217;s valid, it&#8217;s yours, and it&#8217;s important. Wellness doesn\u2019t have to be elaborate. Sometimes, it\u2019s just a walk, a coffee, or a quiet hour offline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And if you need a reminder that your well-being matters: CELTT is in your corner.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s be honest: the end of the academic year doesn\u2019t always bring relief. The weight of final grades, planning for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6618,"featured_media":914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6618"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1400"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1415,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions\/1415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/celtt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}