CSC Coalition launches “Elements”, A book to ground, energize, relax, and inspire you
On Thursday, October 21st, TakingITGlobal and mindyourmind gathered with youth contributors, artists, and Canada Service Corps (CSC) partners to celebrate the launch of Elements, a book available online that can help you identify your values, supports, and passions while taking care of your mental health and planning for tomorrow.
Each section of the book draws on a different natural element : Earth, Fire, Water and Air, inspiring you to think about the connections you may have to each, and empowering you to find strength within yourself and your community. The youth involved in the creation of this book wanted to incorporate nature, as it can ground, energize, relax, and inspire you.
The event brought together TakingItGlobal and mindyourmind team members who worked on the project, as well as other CSC partners and — most importantly — youth collaborators from across the Canada Service Corps, who co-created the content in multiple focus groups over the course of the past few months.
Élise and Shania, two of these youth contributors, each had the opportunity to take the stand at the launch to share their inspiration, motivations and respective favourite sections of the book.
“ I share my mental health story with a lot of other young people, and I wanted to share my own struggles to help normalize conversations about mental health and wellness. […] Seeing something like Elements, so focused on nature and practices and were deemed important by we, the youth. Youth for youth really came into fruition. ”
— Shania
Nicole and Angela, the illustrators behind some of the beautiful visuals of Elements, also had the chance to talk about their inspiration and the meaning of the pieces they created throughout the book.
“ I wanted to create a scenery of a crystal cave, diamonds with a rough undertone, as a reminder that we are all works in progress and that there is beauty in that.
For the fire piece, I wanted to create something that was powerful, brave and that reflected the phoenix rising from the ashes narrative; I wanted to communicate a spark of that magic and communicate that we all have a fire within us. ”
— Angela
Thank you to all of our CSC youth team members who contributed to the development of this resource — Aniqa, Bailey, Daniel, Élise, Ernithe, Fama, Hannah, Jenna, Jocelyn, Kambal, Maya, Raphaël, Sarah, Shania, and Simon.