Professor Janae Nelson speaks on the pursuit of harmony at emotional wellness clinic

The BYU Office of Belonging teamed up with Janae Nelson, an assistant professor of psychology, to host an emotional wellness clinic at the Wilkinson Student Center on Oct. 29.

Nelson's lecture talked about her heritage as a descendant of the Minnesota Chippewa, Bois Forte Band. It focused on the pursuit of harmony, and she used examples of traditions, beliefs and personal experiences to express how harmony has occurred within her life.

She encouraged the audience to approach her lecture through contextualism and to analyze how well-being occurs in this context, without making generalizations toward other cultures.

The clinics happen monthly and revolve around the theme, Check Your PIESS." PIESS stands for physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual, and each lecture tackles one of these topics.

Nelson started off her lecture with an analogy of rice to help the audience better understand contextualism and relationality.

Wild rice is a big part of the Bois Forte tribes' culture, and they have harvested it for generations. Nelson showed the audience three bags of rice: one from her family, one from the store and the last one her grandpa had harvested before he died.

She explained how researchers at Minnesota thought they could replicate the rice that the native communities harvested by understanding how the genomes work. She said the tribal leaders told the researchers that they could never truly replicate the rice.

You might be able to make that, but you cant make this, because this was made by my family, and we sang over it, and we prayed over it, and it has been harvested for generations by our families, Nelson said.

She then compared the analogy of rice to the audience.

You are not just your genetic makeup. If we were to just find a way to replicate you, your exact DNA, we would not create you. You are part of something way bigger, Nelson said.

She explained the importance of relationality and how people are a part of the relationships around them.

She showed a picture of her family and shared the seven generations principle from her heritage, which states that what happens to someone and what they do has the power to impact seven generations within their family.

Students then wrote down on sticky notes the little decisions they can make today that can affect generations around them.

Nelson shared how harmony and happiness are ongoing processes, not a destination or label to reach. She said labeling oneself can be destructive, and she invited students to reflect on labels that made them feel stuck.

Nelson shared that one of the most harmful things someone can do is call themselves broken. She shared that Jesus never called individuals broken, and its time people stop viewing themselves that way.

She gave an analogy about clay and said even when a potter messes up or drops clay on the ground, it will never break and can be molded again.

She said, like trees, people have seasons, and just because one is not blooming at the moment, it doesn't mean they dont have potential in the waiting period.

Nelson shared how God gives gifts and how people should treat gifts differently from commodities.

She shared a story about how, after her grandpa died, a wild strawberry tree grew in her front yard, similar to the ones that grew in her tribe. She knew it was a gift from God, and in return decided to treat the bush with care.

So when you think about your life, your friends, your family, the things you have, are they commodities? Or are they gifts? Because that will change the way that you interact with them, Nelson said.

She finished her remarks by sharing that if people want to have more of an emotional well-being, they need to view the world as a gift, invest in their relationships and stop labeling themselves.

After the lecture, students and staff ate pie in the Office of Belonging and shared what stood out to them from the clinic.

Lita Little Giddins, the associate vice president of the Office of Belonging, shared a spiritual impression she took away from the lecture.

We all belong to God, and that means we all belong to each other, Giddins said.

Kelsey Mangum, a freshman at BYU, shared how she plans on honoring her familial relationships. Mangum, who recently received a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification, stated that with the knowledge shes gained, she is able to help people in need, including her grandpa.

So its crazy to be able to visit him and be like, I know what to do now to take care of you, Mangum said.

The Office of Belonging will continue to host wellness clinics this school year, and more information about these events can be found on the Office of Belonging homepage.