What all goes into a name? I had never really pondered this until I sat down with a fuzzy vision of what I wanted to create and was presented with that very issue. In our lives, names mean so much, labels mean everything, and we most certainly judge books by their covers. Once I began to think about it, the task seemed incredibly daunting. I spent hours laboring over thesaurus.com and talking to friends, trying to imagine what name would define “this”. With the help of a handful of close friends, and particularly the assistance of my mother, I came up with the name “Mindful Moxie”.
To me, Mindful Moxie means to be thoughtfully audacious, to be present and conscious of our internal processes while maintaining our courage. I wanted to emphasize the idea of taking risks but also not doing so with abandon. I sought a name to embody what it means to be unapologetically you.
My vision for Mindful Moxie is one that has shifted from one focus to another, but I always come back to the concept of a holistic view of mental health. Holistic is what it sounds like, taking into consideration the whole not just one facet. Holistic means to look at the entire person, their total system, not just a symptom. As a social worker, I find that often we mental health workers can get stuck on one “issue” or symptom of a client and not look at the bigger picture. I want to break some of that here. I want to encourage others to learn skills that improve every aspect of their lives, not just one tiny piece. I think of our mental health as something we have to cultivate. We need to honor our bodies and our minds by eating well, speaking kindly to ourselves, getting some exercise and fresh air, doing things we enjoy, and nurturing ourselves through tough times.
As much as I enjoy being a counselor, I also want to emphasize prevention over treatment. Many of my counseling clients know my metaphor of a snowball rolling downhill. A tiny snowball is formed at the top of a mountain and begins to roll, as it rolls it accumulates more snow and rapidly becomes larger. This is the way I think of negativity and how we can cycle downwards toward a more dysfunctional existence. If we decide, however, to utilize coping skills, this metaphorically “plants trees” in the way we are able to slow down or stop the snowball of negativity. If we catch the snowball near the top of the mountain, that will require far fewer trees than if we wait for the snowball to grow. Most of my clients come to me only once their snowball has grown to intense proportions. I want to emphasize “planting trees” before a snowball even exists, or perhaps before it becomes a problem.
I have been brainstorming some topics and want to discuss a variety of things, but I want to be able to meet your needs (whoever you are reading this). What would you like some help with? What topics interest you? Let me know! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first blog for Mindful Moxie!
Much love,
T.