Power of Words
Inas Younis
Join Sondra & Jeni as they talk with Inas Younis, journalist and Overland Park Councilmember, as she shares how an excerpt from A Prologue to Love by Taylor Caldwell impacted her life.
Show Notes »
Transcript »
Presented by the Kansas City Public Library & Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City.
Join Sondra & Jeni as they talk with Inas Younis, journalist and Overland Park Councilmember, as she shares how an excerpt from A Prologue to Love by Taylor Caldwell impacted her life.
Show Notes »
Transcript »
Presented by the Kansas City Public Library & Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City.
Hi everyone, and welcome to our podcast, Power of Words. Thanks for stopping by.
Jeni Starr:Hi, I'm Jeni Starr. My pronouns are she her, and I'm the Health and Wellness Specialist for the Kansas City Public Library.
Sondra Wallace:I'm Sondra Wallace. My pronouns are she her, and I'm the Director of Mental Health Programs at Jewish Family Services at Greater Kansas City. I'm glad to be back doing a program again with Jeni.
Jeni Starr:Aww thanks, Sondra. Sondra and I have worked together on mental health programming for several years, and we're pleased to bring you our latest project where we talk with community members and connect stories through words that matter.
Sondra Wallace:We're excited to have our guests share a little bit about their mental health. Journeys and their love for Kansas City. We've asked each of our guests to share an example of how specific words have empowered, changed, encouraged, or strengthened their mental health and wellness.
Jeni Starr:We hope one or two of the words from our conversation today allow you to connect to words that matter to you. Hi, Sondra. How was your weekend?
Sondra Wallace:Our weekend was good. We Aaliyah and I went to the concert at Arrowhead with some pretty famous country.
Jeni Starr:Is that Luke Combs?
Sondra Wallace:Mm-Hmm. Yep. Yep. It was good. It was really, really good.
Jeni Starr:You're a whole, some pretty famous country singer. You're trying not to
Sondra Wallace:Yeah. Too, too many props. But yeah, so there were like four opening acts and three of them I knew, which is, I mean, like I listen to country music, but I don't always follow everybody. Luke Combs, have you seen him in concert?
Jeni Starr:I know who he, I mean, I've, I listen to country too sometimes, but, okay. Yeah. I haven't seen him before. It's a great live?
Sondra Wallace:He's, he was, and, but you know what I loved is that it was just, he's just like a normal person, right? Like it wasn't a big production. Right. And Patrick Mahomes came out'cause I guess he's always in the cities that he goes to. He is a big football fan, so he tries to pull somebody, you know, into the show. And so Patty came out and of course the crowd went crazy and, you know, yeah,
Jeni Starr:yeah, of course they did.
Sondra Wallace:Was yeah, it was a beautiful night. I was ter I was really worried that there was gonna be weather, but
Jeni Starr:was that Saturday?
Sondra Wallace:Yeah. Yeah, it was Saturday. Yeah.
Jeni Starr:So it was a good night.
Sondra Wallace:Yeah, it was, it took us longer, I think, to get out of the parking lot, you know, as always the case, but
Jeni Starr:especially Arrowhead. It's so big.
Sondra Wallace:Yes.
Jeni Starr:Big crowd. We went to the MVS charity softball game Friday night.
Sondra Wallace:Oh.
Jeni Starr:And it was the Chief's offense versus the Chief's defense.
Sondra Wallace:Oh, how fun.
Jeni Starr:They played at the Legends field where the Monarchs play
Sondra Wallace:Uhhuh, right?
Jeni Starr:So fun. Most fun I've had in forever.
Sondra Wallace:Oh my gosh.
Jeni Starr:They, they are not great at baseball. Some of them are not.
Sondra Wallace:The ball's a little bit smaller.
Jeni Starr:Yeah, and you know, you had to hit it with a stick and so there were a lot of mis, you know, they just weren't taking it too seriously. So it was really, of course, Patrick Mahomes, who was, you know, drafted to, he hit multiple home runs and...
Sondra Wallace:Oh my gosh.
Jeni Starr:But just also you would see him off at the gate just playing catch with kids who are watching. We love that guy here.
Sondra Wallace:Oh, that is so good. And so you said the MVS, is that what you said?
Jeni Starr:Yes, it's Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the player.
Sondra Wallace:Oh, oh, okay.
Jeni Starr:It's charity. So he has a new...
Sondra Wallace:Okay.
Jeni Starr:...foundation called Humble Beginnings and it was to fund his charity, so Oh, nice. Oh, very cool. Yeah. So you know.
Sondra Wallace:That's a great idea.
Jeni Starr:Yeah. Like yes.
Sondra Wallace:How fun.
Jeni Starr:And so fun. And it was really affordable for families
Sondra Wallace:Right.
Jeni Starr:To attend that. And you get so close to the players compared to the Arrowhead, you know?
Sondra Wallace:Right.
Jeni Starr:It's just fun and you see that it's a lot of fun. We had a great time.
Sondra Wallace:Yeah. So, oh, that's great. And so when you say it's affordable, like a lot of times those charity events, like you have to buy like a table and it's thousands of dollars and so,
Jeni Starr:right. No,
Sondra Wallace:this was, no. Okay. I'm glad that
Jeni Starr:they had tickets for$10.
Sondra Wallace:Oh, that's awesome.
Jeni Starr:And then they had 25, 50. They had different levels.
Sondra Wallace:Okay.
Jeni Starr:But like, yeah, sure. You know, but for 10 do. Right. It was very doable. Well, Sondra, as fun as our weekends were, I'm really looking forward to today's conversation. Our guest today is Inas Youmis. She was born in Mosul, Iraq and immigrated with her family to the United States as a child. She's an independent journalist and commentator, and has been widely published in various magazines and websites, including the Washington Post and our very own Kansas City Star. Her Work,"A Monologue on the Pandemic" was featured by the Unicorn Theater. She is the co-author of several children's books featuring children of different faith minorities. She is currently running for Overland Park City Council, ward five, and she lives in Overland Park with her husband of 33 years, not including her two cats, Stoney and Matisse. So welcome Inas.
Inas Younis:Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here with you.
Jeni Starr:We're so happy to have you. Is there anything else that you want us to know about you?
Inas Younis:Oh gosh. Well, I always say that the biggest piece or the biggest, I think part of my public profile is that I'm a mother. So in terms of identity, we all have a multiplicity of things that we identify with. I think motherhood is the one thing that I identify most closely with. And yeah, and I think that's an important part of what makes me who I am and informs my journey.
Sondra Wallace:Mm-Hmm. That's awesome. Well, and when we, when we first started, you had mentioned you have three kids, and so it's great to hear all about that important work. I always say it was my very first job, right? My very favorite job to have is to be, is to be a mom. What's your connection to Kansas City? Or what's your passion about Kansas City or what have you done lately in Kansas City, I should say?
Inas Younis:Yeah, so my passion I always. Tell everyone that I am Overland Park's biggest cheerleader, so I really identify with my geographic community and it's taken me a long time to get to that sort of understanding of community'cause I think we all have different definitions of what constitutes community. Sometimes it's a faith community, sometimes it's an academic group that you identify with. We all have different ways that we associate with larger groups. And for me being able to identify with my community as it pertains to a geographic location is very meaningful for me in part because I'm an immigrant and I moved around a lot. In part also because as a mother I feel like this community has served me very well and has served my children very well. It was a real game changer for us to move to Overland Park because of the services that my youngest was able to secure through the school district. So I don't know if that answers your question completely, but...
Jeni Starr:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Inas Younis:It's been a long journey to get here, but we're here and this is what I call home.
Jeni Starr:I think that's so interesting because I'm not an immigrant, but I did not grow up in Kansas City and I've lived here for 14 years, and it took a while for me to feel like this was home. We've heard that from other guests as well, that there is something about feeling like you're part of a community where you live.
Inas Younis:Yes. And community building is also something that I'm passionate about because we live in a highly individualistic culture and the trade off of freedom and the autonomy that we get from being individuals is that it makes communal living more of a challenge.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:Because we are independent. We don't need to rely on each other as much and therefore we don't eng engage, need to engage as much. So engagement becomes a very conscious decision as opposed to something that just happens organically. And so community building is something I think we need to be more cognizant of, and it needs to be something that we work on as opposed to something we just take for granted.
Jeni Starr:Yeah. It's like it has to be intentional for us.
Inas Younis:Yeah.
Jeni Starr:Because it's just not organically part of our culture.
Inas Younis:Survival. Yeah. Or even just our survival.
Jeni Starr:Yes. Yeah. Correct. Even just our survival. Okay. Well, thank you so much for sharing some of that information. Would you mind telling us a little bit about the words that you're sharing with us today?
Inas Younis:Yeah certainly I think it's, it's I'll give you a little bit of context. So I first read these words by the stoic ancient philosopher, Seneca. It was a part of an insert in a novel that I read as a teenager, and the novel was titled"A Prologue to Love", and it was written by Taylor Caldwell, who I think she's mainly out of print, but as a teen who was just learning the language, English language, I was an avid reader. And her books were the first that I sort of grasped. And they're very sort of, oh, I don't know, depressing in some respects because. A lot of her narratives revolved around the demise of America and America going down the wrong path and communism and all the threats, all the existential threats. And so I found solace in these words. And, you know, as a new american, I was, I found so much, so much joy and peace in being an American and then feeling like I was safe here. And that I had a future here but reading her books sort of upended some of my reassurances. So I read this passage in one of her books, and it really gave me hope and I clung to it in a way that I carried it with me throughout my life. I wrote it in my journal. I, I read it periodically and I printed it out and have it up in my office. So, and I don't ignore exactly what it is about this passage that gives me comfort. Let me read it to you and maybe that will...
Jeni Starr:Yes, yes.
Inas Younis:...that will give you some perspective. It starts with,"it is not possible for us to know each other except as we manifest ourselves in distorted shadows to the eyes of others. We do not even know ourselves. Therefore, why should we judge a neighbor who knows what pain is behind virtue and what fear behind vice? No one in short knows what makes a man and only God knows his thoughts, his joys, his bitternesses, his agony, the injustices committed against him and the injustices he commits. God is too inscrutable for our little understanding. After sad meditation, it comes to me that all that lives. Whether good or an error, mournful or joyous, obscure, or of gilded reputation, painful or happy is only a prologue to love beyond the grave where all is understood and almost all forgiven." That I think just sort of encapsulated my internal theology. Faith has always been the place that I ran to for comfort and I felt like this passage really just encapsulated what I intuitively understood about God and his mercy, and also what I understood about humanity and their sins and, I think the other thing that ironically gave me solace from this passage was the word almost. It says,"we're all is understood and almost all is forgiven." Because if you feel on some level that some of the challenges you have in your life are a result of a betrayal or result of being mistreated or a result of injustice, I don't know that it gives you that much comfort to think everyone is forgiven. And no matter what you do you're going to be redeemed. On one level, yes, that's very reassuring. But on another level, it felt like it was an injustice in and of itself to feel like people who had maybe wronged me or wronged others were not going to be held accountable. So the word almost is such that one word just change everything for me. And just made me feel like, well, it's in God's hands. And he ultimately, he's the ultimate arbiter and, yes, almost all is forgiven, but there must be something that's unforgivable. It's a complicated emotion to grapple with.
Jeni Starr:Yeah. So you were a teen when you came across these words, is that correct?
Inas Younis:Correct, correct.
Jeni Starr:So when we, you sent these ahead to us, and I'm gonna be honest, I was like, wow, this person was a deep thinker as a teenager. I'm not sure that I would have held onto this text, but, you know, I didn't come across it, so maybe I would've, but I can tell, it just seems that you've been thinking about these things for a long time.
Inas Younis:Mm-Hmm.
Sondra Wallace:I was wondering about how this captures so much, and just as you said, the words almost all forgiven. That word just in itself has so much power.
Inas Younis:Mm-Hmm.
Sondra Wallace:There, are there other parts of that? When you were reading it, I was really focusing on trying to just be the listener versus being the reader.
Inas Younis:Mm-Hmm.
Sondra Wallace:Are there other parts of that passage that tend to kind of, jump out or resonate with you. The piece that, why should we judge a neighbor was a piece that I really like I heard all of the words, but that little phrase right there, I thought, oh, mm mm I gotta keep listening. This is really good stuff.
Inas Younis:I feel like it does two things. One, it gives you permission to forgive yourself if you're struggling because of regrets that you have in life, decisions you've made, or, sins you may have committed or whatever you identify as a sin,'cause everyone has their different notions of that term. And it typically has a religious connotation associated with it. You can start by forgiving yourself. But it also gives you permission to forgive other people who have wronged you. And to look at the world through a more understanding lens to know that the things we cannot explained are probably applicable. It's just that we don't know. We don't know what people have been through. We can't explain their behavior because we haven't been in their shoes. That a lot of us are products of circumstances that most of us are not aware of. And that those circumstances inform what kind of people we become. And when we let go of all the judgment, there's a liberation that comes with that. So I think for all those reasons, I feel like this is a very therapeutic passage and therapeutic approach to anger, to toxic emotions that you may be having towards the world, towards feeling wronged, towards doing wrong. But then again, there's that guardrail. You'll be forgiven. Almost, almost all is forgiven. So don't become complacent. Recognize that there are things that really cross a line and be wary of that and where there are situations where you can't find forgiveness in your heart for someone who is wronged you, that it's okay for you to be human enough to say, I'm angry and I can't forgive. I think some of the toxic positivity narrative that we hear is that, oh, you need to forgive people. You need to forgive people. Almost asks too much of us to say, we can't be human enough to just not be okay with something and just, be angry about it and be depressed about it. And I think that that is an important part of our humanity that we need to honor. And I think, you know, fake it to make it, forgive everyone no matter what. And it's freeing and it's liberating. Like there is truth to that, but that's a process. It's not an event. It's not something where you just make a decision. I'm going to forgive because it's good for me. I think it's a process that you have to go through and just, it allows you to be human.
Jeni Starr:I definitely feel that when I read through this. The next sentence after what Sondra read, and just for listeners, we will have this text in the show notes if you wanna go back to it, because it's so rich. I feel like we really could pick each sentence and talk about each one for a really long time. But the next sentence, it says"who knows what pain is behind virtue and what fear behind vice." I really like that thought of that. We have layers and there are things behind our emotional state and behind our behaviors. And we might be the only ones who know it and maybe we don't always know it. It's really an interesting way to look at things. In the mental health field we talk about trauma informed care. And this sort of reminds me of that model of looking at things when you see behaviors that are kind of unbalanced. Instead of saying what's wrong with this person? We ask what happened to this person? What's behind the behavior but I liked it pain behind virtue too, because I think we focus a lot on what's going on behind a person whose behaviors are negative behaviors, but also things we would consider positive can have pain behind them. I was just very...
Inas Younis:Sure.
Jeni Starr:It's given me a lot to think about.
Inas Younis:Yeah, I think pain and going through trauma sometimes and not at the outset, but sometimes leads to having more compassion, more empathy towards others.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:When you have survived trauma. You feel like you had a new lease on life, and there's a kind of gratitude that comes with that. There's a kind of wisdom that comes with that, and I think those are things that don't happen by choice. I think most wisdom is forced upon us through circumstances we would never, ever choose.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:I think anger is also like an antidote let's just say an antidote. It's, it's what they say anger is, is one of the best antidepressants. So sometimes when I see an angry person, I, I just, my first assumption is they're probably depressed. And just having that kind of nuanced approach to understanding people's behavior helps me cope...
Jeni Starr:yeah,
Inas Younis:...with my own mental health and my own insanity.
Jeni Starr:Yeah, for sure. Anger I think can be kind of, it's powerful feeling and it can feel protective.
Sondra Wallace:No. I was just gonna segue a little bit when you were saying that helping you understand and how to cope and to when things are difficult or when things are hard. Do passages like this help you with that coping or are there other things that you turn to or I wonder as a writer, is writing a coping skill that you found helpful.
Inas Younis:Yeah, I think creativity is a...
Sondra Wallace:Oh, okay.
Inas Younis:...therapeutic coping skill. And for me, that form for that has been writing.
Sondra Wallace:Okay.
Inas Younis:So I, I've been writing my whole life. I've been journaling since I was 16. I have behind me, I have journals from when I was 6 years old.
Jeni Starr:Oh, wow.
Inas Younis:Now, so I have like bookcases of words. It was an outlet for me to express myself in ways that I couldn't otherwise. I think one of the things I've learned by going through some really rough times in my life is that we are finite. There's this sense that we can always talk our way out of stress, but we do have limitations. I think we do have mental limitations, we have emotional limitations. When things get really hard, people often turn to faith because this faith feels like a very infinite space that you can unburden yourself by believing in something bigger, and I think that's extremely powerful. I think that it's no accident that faith is often a function of I don't wanna use the overuse, the word trauma, but hardship. And oftentimes people will say things like, oh, hardship, you're going through hardship. God loves you. He's chosen you to go through this path, which is very annoying when you are actually going through a rough time.
Jeni Starr:Yes.
Inas Younis:I would never choose hardship.
Jeni Starr:Thank you.
Inas Younis:Even as a path to faith, I would never choose because the kind of hardship that it takes for you to get to that place is like nothing any human being would choose. That's why I think faith is not a choice.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:You would never. Volunteer for the kind of hardship it takes for you to be, to have the kinds of epiphanies that people attribute to spirituality. So I much prefer to have faith by choice. Make a conscious choice to believe and be a believer.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:As opposed to have it be a function of I have no choice and this is the only place that I can run to because I've exhausted all my worldly resources. I've coped through faith and sometimes through a crisis of faith. I've always been a student of religion and I work in interfaith spaces and often because I like to draw upon the various traditions for wisdom, not just my own, but other traditions and their wisdom. And oftentimes it's the same message, just spoken in different ways in different languages. It's a universal message. It's been through a struggle with faith. Not necessarily like a religiosity, but a struggle with faith. And I think that struggle's been part of my journey. But also I cope through self-care. I mean, like, not to be too cliche about it, but prioritizing self-care and understanding that it's okay and not feeling guilty about it and recognizing that I have limitations and that we are finite and that we do crack. There is a point at which you get to a place where you feel hopeless and you need help and you need the most unromantic kinds of interventions. You know, when people go through hard times, sometimes they cope by romanticizing their pain, by saying it's making them into a better person by delving into or by latching onto other issues. Bigger picture issues like global warming and no war, and, and all the other crises and all the, and, and we find a way to cope with our own personal pain by directing our emotions towards some bigger issues, some bigger crisis. But sometimes the only way to deal with emotional hardship is just to do the boring work of identifying what it is and getting the really practical help that you need. It could be just getting mental health therapy. It could be if you're struggling financially. It could be just finding ways to help yourself in that way, or getting help or asking for help or whatever it is. Like sometimes you can't romanticize your way out of emotional trauma and pain, and sometimes it's dealing with your past and all the things that you've gone through as so. That tends to rear its head later on in life because we bury it and bury it and bury it.
Jeni Starr:I just love that this whole section of how you've described getting help, because I don't think I've ever heard anyone phrase it quite that way about romanticizing help. Help is boring for sure. It's like a weekly appointment somewhere, perhaps, or a, you know, it is not romantic. That is such a really great way to phrase it that I have not heard before.
Inas Younis:Yeah. And it, it's grounding like
Jeni Starr:Yes.
Inas Younis:It's that kind of help grounds you back in reality, because...
Jeni Starr:Yeah.
Inas Younis:...one of the things that happens when you do go through really traumatic events is because reality's unbearable. So you escape reality...
Jeni Starr:Right.
Inas Younis:...you can escape it through religion, you can escape it through, all kinds, there are all kinds of escape valves that we resort to. So to really get help, sometimes you have to go back to like, just reality as difficult and as boring and as complicated as it is. You know, that's, that's the path forward.
Jeni Starr:Yeah. And as wonderful and romantic as other options might sound, they might not be effective at all. Oh, I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that wording. I think that's really helpful.
Sondra Wallace:Yeah, and I was thinking about using really intentional language and words, the books that you have written that are for children, right? Like having to be very intentional about how to describe different faiths through that lens of a child. What's that been like?
Inas Younis:I found a lot of solace in reading children's books to my children, reading picture books to my children. It's just an innocent place to go mentally. And for me it's therapeutic. So in writing these books, I think the thing that I found, I guess, appealing to me is trying to enter the mind of a child, trying to see through their eyes very complicated world, right? A world that like I said, it's, the stories are about children of different faith minorities mostly Muslim and Jewish, but there are other children also featured and the struggles that they go through and how innocent they are and their perception of. Being an outsider or being unwelcome or just entering that innocent space for me was lovely actually, to be honest. I wanna do more of that.
Sondra Wallace:Yeah. That's fantastic. Well, I appreciate that perspective in that work. It's really important just to kind of keep those voices, those stories being told through the generations and through another group of young readers. That's great.
Jeni Starr:Yes. And for those who are listening, we do have at least one of your books in our collection at the Library, and we'll make sure to share that or any other ones that we have in our show notes for anyone who would like to check one out for themselves.
Inas Younis:Mm-Hmm.
Jeni Starr:You mentioned your journaling practice, a very serious journaling practice. And I'm wondering if you have a process that you follow just for anyone who's like interested in. And adding journaling to their life.
Inas Younis:Yes. So what you used the operative word here was practice.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:So, any practice, anything that you do on a regular basis is gonna be, I feel therapeutic. I think rituals can be therapeutic as long as they don't morph into a kind of, pathology, like OCD or something.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:You can be flexible enough and not to feel like if you don't follow through with this, that you know, oh, hell's gonna break loose. Having rituals in your life, injecting routine is very good for your mental health. It's good when you're feeling unhinged or unmoored to have a kind of a schedule, a routine, a spiritual practice, and journaling can be a spiritual practice. And I actually picked up my guideline for how to do this through the book"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.
Jeni Starr:So, oh my goodness. Do you know that we had another guest who's the youth librarian at Central who chose that book for her words?
Inas Younis:Yes. I am not surprised at all because it is a very, very powerful book, and it really is not just for writers. It's a book that recognizes that every human being is really an artist on some level, whatever it is, that their art can take many different forms, even in business. But just honoring that part of who you are, she introduces you to a set of rituals and one of them is called morning pages. So when you wake up in the morning, you take a book act. Actually, I started doing this when I was, even before I read her book as a child, I found this to be very therapeutic stream of consciousness writing.
Jeni Starr:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:You, you take a, a, your journal can be an old spiral notebook. Every morning you commit religiously to writing three pages. Or if you wanna use a timer, you can time yourself 10 minutes, whatever. Whatever comes to your mind, just let it out. And you will find that when you do this practice day after day after day, these little nuggets of wisdom or an epiphanies, whatever you wanna call them, come through. And you're able to sort of emotionally detox and address some of the issues that are buried beneath the surface. It's just a great way to start your day, right? So no matter what you're going through, you know, you have this moment of time where you can be completely honest. No one will ever read this. You don't even have to read it. So you can be completely honest and and frank with yourself. And I think being honest with yourself is. So one of the first steps towards your mental health journey is you've gotta be honest with yourself about what's really going on.
Jeni Starr:Thank you for sharing that it was so exciting to hear that resource shared again.
Sondra Wallace:Mm-Hmm. We as we kind of start to begin wrapping up a little bit, we really are grateful for your time today and the wonderful wisdom that you've shared. Jeni do you wanna ask her kind of our final question that we're asking all of our guests?
Jeni Starr:Yes. We have a final question that we always ask. So as of today, right now, what's your favorite word? And you can tell us a little bit about why that might be.
Inas Younis:One word. One word. Oh, wow. Well, it's kind of a phrase, but I like the word paradox.
Jeni Starr:Oh,
Inas Younis:I like the word paradox. And I, I've learned through my, just my own spiritual growth and spiritual journey, that all truth is paradoxical. I think that's kind of a universal truth. And so that would be my word. And I, and I, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna add any more to it. I think people should just, maybe just look it up and, and try to see where there are paradoxes in their lives.
Jeni Starr:Hmm. Okay.
Sondra Wallace:So it sounds like a wonderful little homework takeaway assignment.
Jeni Starr:Yes.
Sondra Wallace:Yeah. Yeah. Are there any other connections or resources that you want to share with our listeners that are out in the community that might be helpful? A website, a blog, a social media channel, any of those things that have just really helped you? Learn and grow in your, in your mental health and or spiritual journey?
Inas Younis:Yeah, I mean, again, going back to what the boring and the practical Johnson County has an excellent mental health resources through the county.
Sondra Wallace:Mm-Hmm.
Inas Younis:So they were one of the first places I went to when my middle son, who as I told you earlier, has had some serious disabilities and challenges. They were the first people I called and they were the most, most helpful. So I think it's important for you to identify the resources in your community, not to be afraid to ask for help. I think finding a community and building a community is important. So whether that means your local church, mosque, or synagogue. Building those bridges, even when you're feeling fine, even when you feel like you've got it together, you can't build anything in an emergency. So you've got to build those bridges and those connections when you're able to, so that when you do have an emergency or you're going through a rough time, that infrastructure's already there for you. So that would be my recommendation and start journaling, journaling. Everyone.
Sondra Wallace:Yes. Yes. So that's awesome. And that's a great, great reminder. We really appreciate that, that we do need to you know, have our card of resources, our phone numbers in our phones, whatever it might be. Or, because you're exactly right in that when we are in a moment of crisis or trauma or, or really difficult situation. We need to have the tools just right available and not start looking for them at that moment in time. So thank you for that. Really appreciate that.
Jeni Starr:Yeah. That's just wonderful advice.
Inas Younis:Yeah.
Jeni Starr:Yeah. And as always make sure you check out the resources that we have at the Library at kclibrary.org and then Jewish Family Services, jfskc.org. You can check out those websites for programs and resources that are available. And thank you so much Inas for joining us today. It's just been delightful speaking with you and...
Inas Younis:Yes.
Jeni Starr:And learning more about this text that you shared and we're just so grateful for you to join us today.
Inas Younis:Well, thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Sondra Wallace:Yes. So fun. Such a great day. Good stuff. Yes.
Jeni Starr:So until next time, everyone, we challenge you to listen, react, and respond to the Power of Words. Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoyed this episode of Power of Words.
Sondra Wallace:This episode is produced by the Kansas City Public Library and Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City with support from AmeriCorps.
Jeni Starr:We encourage you to explore our health resources and services available in the show notes.
Sondra Wallace:And follow or subscribe for new episodes wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.