Your People

Katherine Warren

I want to take time to address not you or I, but the people that surround you.

If you suffer from poor mental health, your people go through a lot. It takes a lot to understand mental illness if you don’t experience it, it takes a lot not to take things personally when someone is in the thick of depression, it takes a lot of love and listening and support.


If you’re the one suffering, when you feel a little better, take time to thank those people who are there for you no matter what. Show appreciation to those that make you feel safe (no small feat for those who have trauma around trust), allow you to use your words, and just keep coming back to you time and time again offering unconditional support.


For you amazingly gracious supporters I offer a few pieces of advice:


  1. Try not to take it personally. If someone suffering is uncommunicative, avoiding you or canceling your plans, please try to remember these actions have nothing to do with their love for you. When depression is at its darkest, simply getting off the couch can feel like an absolutely terrible task, getting out the door can feel impossible.

  2. Just listen. I think the most dangerous depression occurs when someone is alone with their thoughts and doesn’t feel they have an outlet to share them. If you can be the person they feel safe to talk to, tell you all those rough thoughts just as they are in their brain, without fear of judgement, that’s when transformation can happen and feeling better can be just around the corner.

  3. Acknowledge but avoid solving. When someone who is suffering shares thoughts, it is helpful for them to hear from you, “that sounds like depression,” or “I don’t think that’s true, you may not be feeling well.” That can be far more healing for a person than any attempt to solve the issue they are describing.

    I’d compare it to trying to fix a physical illness for a person when you’re not a doctor. An attempt at resolution might only make those thoughts worse, or make the person feel worse for not being able to accomplish the “fix.” Acknowledging the thought as unhealthy however, can be extremely helpful. Just like physical illness, you can see it and call it out, then you tell your person to find a professional to help fix it.


On my life bucket list is to find a way to create more support groups for these incredible souls who are selflessly helping us thrive. For now, I’ll just say thank you. If you have a loved one who is suffering and you are following these oftentimes very challenging steps, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say you may have saved a life a time or two.


_

Do me a favor? If you’re enjoying this journey towards a balanced life please subscribe, share it, and follow my Instagram for smaller bites.


A woman is running with two dogs in a park.
By Katherine Warren April 6, 2025
Your brain will straight up lie to you. There’s no way to sugar coat that, friends, there just isn’t. But your brain also creates beautiful ideas and inventions, and well, everything you see that surrounds us. It’s the power of the AND. Your brain is the king of the “and.” The first step in finding balance is recognizing this. The second step is discerning the beautiful part of your brain from the beast. The third is not reacting to, judging or negotiating with the beastly part. It’s tough, tough work. It’s lifelong work. And even if your friends start calling you things like the “definition of balance” (a term so kindly bestowed on me by some friends recently). You’re still gonna have to work your a** off on this part for the rest of your life as you sway back and forth, in and out of balance. Does it get easier? Yes and no. The beauty of understanding the feeling of balance is that you don’t have to rely on your brain so much. You know how it feels to be in a place of solid, grounded peace, no matter what your brain is shouting you “should” or “could” be doing. The harder part is that the more you find balance, the more likely it is that you are upleveling your life. Your focus and pure presence have likely brought about more of whatever you define as a successful life--mentally, physically, or materially. That uplevel can mean those brain lies cut a little deeper, make you question every decision you make to protect your peace. If you’ve learned to sit with that pain in your belly, it might fight a little harder to make you pay attention to it. It might put up a bigger fight to try to force you to listen to those untruths. This is when you have to remind yourself, your brain will straight up lie to you. Under no circumstances should you negotiate with these thoughts. That’s where spiraling lives, that’s where lack of balance lies. Sometimes holding hard to your balanced routines will do the trick.
A before and after photo of a woman taking a selfie
By Katherine Warren April 5, 2025
What you might see when you look at this picture is a physical transformation. My size, my shininess, the polish of my look. What I see, is the change in my eyes. 
A person is typing on a laptop computer on a wooden table.
By Katherine Warren February 9, 2025
It never fails, when I try to explain the beautiful, balanced culture we are building at KidGlov (focused on finding joy in our work), someone inevitably says, “Oh, you mean good work/life balance?”
A woman is standing in front of a wall with pictures on it.
By Katherine Warren February 8, 2025
There’s an art to vulnerability, especially at work. Being real is what connects us as humans, but that doesn’t mean you need to share every nitty, gritty detail for someone to relate.
A woman in a red shirt is holding a volunteer badge.
By Katherine Warren February 7, 2025
What does wellness mean to you?
A woman wearing a name tag that says katherine
By Katherine Warren February 7, 2025
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to inspire someone.
A bowl of soup with tomatoes and broccoli on a table.
By Katherine Warren February 7, 2025
I posted on social media this week about Soup Sundays at the Warren house. It is a near sacred practice here, and very much a part of living a balanced life.
A cup of coffee sits next to a notebook and pen
By Katherine Warren February 7, 2025
I am living proof that people can, in fact, change.
A woman is sitting on a yoga mat with her eyes closed
By Katherine Warren February 6, 2025
Here's how my journey towards achieving balance started.
A stack of bread is sitting on top of each other on a table.
By Katherine Warren February 6, 2025
One of the most impactful physical wellness lessons I have learned came from a Real Housewife.
Show More