ember

ember is a mental health tracking app built with React, Next.js, and MongoDB. It's designed as a simple place to log everyday acts of self-care without judgment or pressure to maintain streaks. Users log activities across four categories: movement, self-care, home, and social. Each logged activity increments a counter displaying "times you chose yourself." The idea is that every act of self-care, no matter how small, is worth acknowledging. That shower counts. That walk counts. Even texting a friend counts. A calendar view displays on which days activities were logged. When the app opens, a daily affirmation appears. The affirmations are honest rather than just generic motivational quotes. Avoiding the typical clinical feel of health apps, ember’s design is deliberately warm and minimal with lowercase typography throughout. Technically, the app uses React for the frontend with Next.js handling the backend. MongoDB stores all user data. Features include category filtering, a streak counter, and mobile responsive design. The affirmations are generated fresh each day but cached locally to avoid repeated API calls. The project was built as a bootcamp capstone. The underlying philosophy is different from typical mental health apps that reward streaks or trigger guilt for missed days. ember simply acknowledges that showing up for yourself, in whatever ways that may be or look like, is enough.