Meet Lynn Ouellette

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lynn Ouellette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lynn, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I think everyone has resilience because this world is not an easy place. Resilience is elastic like a rubber band. Depending on the moment it stretches, springs back, or wraps tightly to hold pieces together. Once in a while we snap our elastic to fly across the room or rest it in the junk drawer until we need it again. I think my type of resilience comes from emotional necessity. I have big feelings and idealism but observe harsh realities. I crave connection but am not naturally good at socializing. These are opposing forces that get confusing. I can hit low times and HAVE to find my way. In turn I feel driven to help others find their own unique way. On a practical level, my resilience comes from asking questions: What is actually going on? What is valuable here? What CAN I do? What is the next step? What can I let go of? etc.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I love to wonder, create and learn. I started a website to express and connect around these topics. My main focus lately has been writing in my blog. Stories are such beautiful ways to get inspired by how others navigate the maze of life. As a kid in the 1970s I kept re-reading the biography of Helen Keller in my elementary school library. Her grittiness drew me in. As a teen in the 1980s I had one of my grittiest times. I went through depression, burnout, eating disorder and suicide attempt. In the process I experienced two hospitals that I call Mental Wards, which were meaningful for me to chronicle there as a 6 part series. I share a couple songs there too. My main career is education-decades of teaching all ages, mostly in special education. Some tutoring memories and my lesson plan store link is there too.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Through all the trials of young life, faith adventures, college, companionship, parenting, teaching, aging, and creating, my 55 year old soul can look back and say these 3 things impacted me the most: Acceptance, Questions, and Enjoyment. My advice on Acceptance is to please accept yourself and others as beautifully unique. Extend grace to yourself and others because life is not easy. My advice on Questions is to ask them when you hit a slow or discouraging impasse. For example, I recently had a student who got denied entrance into an employment program because of paperwork and his visual impairment. I am getting past this now by asking questions. For example, I went to meeting to find out, “What is this program really like?”, “Who do I talk to?” then asked that person, “How can we fix this?”. My advice on enjoyment is grasp for a little something to savor every day, no matter what kind of day it is. Really take a moment to find something to like. Remember someone who was kind, blast a song, cuddle up in a soft blanket. Look for things to enjoy in other people too. Pause to see something – their smile, effort, how great their cup of coffee smells, anything. Enjoyment has a ripple effect on the soul and recharges your resilience to get you past the next hurdle.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I think it is great to use your strengths, but to learn new things keeps us fresh and helps us relate to others. Here is a story to illustrate: I taught a teen who made his own Rap music. I had not listened to a lot of Rap prior to that school year. Rock, Folk, Classical, Inspirational, mostly. I wanted to accept and celebrate his uniqueness. If I stuck with what I knew, would it help? No. So I looked up the artists he liked and listened to them during my commutes, checked out their sites and read about Hip Hop history. I got to know some Rap artists in person through volunteering or attending events. Soon the student and I connected around music. In turn, he became comfortable discussing other topics with me, so our lessons became more fruitful. This music adventure bridged new friendships and , exchanges of ideas, which I think grows healthy community, one person at a time. I hope this article gives you some ways to keep your resilience energy going.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Hai Nguyen
Alexus Johnson
Max Jodeit
Claire Ouellette
Gaby Ly

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your