ABOUT - Yellow Tulip Project (2024)

UsSeptember 14, 2021

• Us
• September 14, 2021

• ByTeam YTP

• September 14, 2021
• ByTeam YTP

I am so happy you have stumbled upon our platform because here we are cultivating a community of healers, light spreaders, wanderers, introverts and extroverts, where any and all are welcome and celebrated. This is a place where we can skip the phase of being strangers and slip directly into the phase where love and trust is the foundation of our friendship. At Dear Minds: Finding Our Yellow, our mission is to unpack the stigma of vulnerability by opening our hearts and spirits. By doing so we can begin to lean on one another and heal ourselves and the community through uncovering personal truths, sharing self-compassion tips, and tapping into the power of storytelling.

We live in an incredibly divisive world where class, race, gender, and other factors are all forced identifiers of who we are and who we are perceived to become…or so they might think.

And yet, humans are like icebergs: our outward exterior bobs above the everchanging waters, but below the cool water line we have depths that no one can see at first glance.

It is through storytelling and providing space for vulnerabilities to shine through that we can begin to find comfort and trust in community — and, like an iceberg, unveil our own personal depths.

It is okay to not be okay, and in this space we will learn tips and methods on how to indulge in our beautifully-crafted selves — be it through homemade wellness products, like lavender oils or face masks, or a guide on how to interact more mindfully with the world. At its core, this blog aims to help readers understand that we are not alone in this wild life, and that together we can feel more hopeful and “wholeful” about ourselves and the world.

Welcome to Dear Minds: Finding Our Yellow! Together we will create and spread more hope and beauty. Let’s go wild and create some good trouble.

Cheers,

Julia

Meet our Co-founders:

Hello! My name is Julia Hansen and I am the co-founder of Dear Minds: Finding Our Yellow — a blog focused on unpacking the stigma surrounding vulnerability and introducing ways to invite healing, help and hope into our everyday lives. In addition, I am the founder of the nonprofit The Yellow Tulip Project, a youth-led national organization that is dedicated to smashing the stigma surrounding mental illness, bringing hope and light into people’s lives and reminding each other that it is okay to not be okay — and that there is help and hope out there.

I am currently living in Los Angeles with my lovely boyfriend where I am making music, working at a garden, finishing school (virtually), as well as continuing the hard and tedious work of tending to my mental demons.

I have depression — but depression does not have me. With each day and each act of self-compassion, I feel that I regain more power and strength. That being said, of course there are days where the world is gray and heavy — where my tears will NOT stop flowing and where simply getting out of my bed or car seems unimaginable. And yet, the moon continues to rise and bring with it a beautiful blanket of stars. And above all, the smell of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies will always make my mouth water.

There are simple joys that remind us of the good and beauty in the world. It is through these small victories or acts of love where the good can wander back in, bringing with it color to replace the gray and help us to feel lighter again.

On this platform, I hope to share joy and hope, as well as the continued realization that amidst the pain and sadness of which our fast-moving world is full, there is immense beauty and goodness.

Sometimes, we just need a helping hand to uncover the dusty, buried goodness. Again, it is okay to not be okay — and it’s also okay to be okay. We are all just humans trying to find our way in this wacky world and together we can help one another find our joys, purposes, curiosities. Together, we can continue to share and spread this goodness further & further.

Hello beautiful people! My name is Sadie Pressman and I am the co-founder of Dear Minds: Finding Our Yellow — a blog focused on unpacking the stigma surrounding vulnerability and introducing ways to invite healing, help and hope into our everyday lives. I found out about the Yellow Tulip Project in 2018 shortly after I lost my dad to suicide. In 2020 I joined the YTP community after taking the Storytelling Alchemy course. Through this course I unearthed the power of storytelling and became infinitely inspired by the magical transformation of turning pain into beauty.

The stigma that surrounds mental illness silences people when they need help most. I watched stigma single handedly isolate and hinder my dad from seeking the help he needed to heal. I have also felt the heavy silence, its weight is soul crushing on a Sunday night when in bed, in tears, and feeling alone. However, I am not alone, and neither are you. Darkness is not eternal. The sun will always rise bringing with it light to make the flowers bloom, warmth to soften your skin, and hope for the days ahead.

Currently, I reside in Maine where the seasons change, the ocean rises and falls against the coast, and in this beautiful state that I call home, I walk along sidewalks that have bore my footsteps on sad walks, stress induced runs, and cheerful strolls with friends. This spring I am chipping away at my college credits (virtually) while preparing my mental and physical to return to the ice as a performer in shows.

The creation of this blog is near and dear to my heart. The space that Julia and I aim to create is a vision of childhood dreams, a space we wish our younger selves had when growing up. Since adolescence I’ve searched for the meaning of life and have tried to live out my life in alignment to my truest self. But who am I? Where do I end and where do you begin? Some days I feel overwhelmingly connected to all of the life around me. Something that I believe to be true is that the life inside of us is uniquely ours. I am free to do as I wish and when societal pressure is heavy I remind myself that nothing I do really matters, and I also hold true that everything I do matters, immensely. I swim alongside you in the sea of life, holding both truths to create a life that is meaningful and fulfilling for me while conscious that the wake behind me will have an effect long after I am gone. One day that wake will wash up on a shore somewhere, on some coast, and I hope when the water rushes onto the shore, it brings you hope and inspires you to take a dip. Welcome to our blog dear reader.

Peace,

Sadie