Answers Start In Your Own Backyard
My dreams of being the change I want to see in the world
She stares at the vibrant eyes of the image on her computer screen, daring her to break through the bricks that hold her back. Tell me your dream, Girl? You know, the one I’m prompting you to say.
That powerful vision buried deep inside your heart. The promise you made to God and yourself! The one that drives you! Okay, maybe I can say it with a little poetry.
make a difference time to show magnificence lives stand in balance skies beyond windows valance answers in your own backyard
creative fires charred cycle links left unbroken dreams never spoken family words wield power feeding esteems wallflower
angel heart lights fuse empowering mind and muse generations grow when adults new vision show mindful words loving embrace
light inside headspace mental anguish disappears open new frontiers mental wellness open door now, my Dear, it's time to soar
Hmm. The poem is a start, but time to move deeper into your heart.
The Promise
You want me to share the promise I made. Those eyes are really looking inside my soul today. I’ll see if a different image will get you the answers you seek.
Forty years ago, I vowed to God, that if he allowed me to get pregnant and gift me with a child, I would do everything in my power to break the past family cycle I grew up with. The day I walked in to start my fertility testing, the doctor called me into the office to tell me no tests were necessary. I was pregnant.
The image of the broken chain, with a circle of different colored people pointing at the break, represents the promise. Life doesn’t need to be perfect. You can color outside the lines. The grass can be purple and the sky can be green.
How do we find a balance between conflicting facts?
How appropo that Jelly Roll’s songs, “Save Me”, “Need a Favor”, and “She” were on my musical loop this morning? At first glance, Jelly Roll isn’t someone we envision as a top country singer. However, to me, he is a powerful example of how the arts can change anyone’s life.
Heartfelt lyrics like “Somethin’ inside of me’s broken. I hold on to anything that sets me free,” “I only talk to God when I need a favor,” and “If you only knew her smile, you’d never know that she’s in pain,” all seem to be an outcry for mental wellness.
Statistically, mindfulness helps in many areas of our health, both physical and mental. Chronic pain, immune systems, heart health, stress reduction, depression, anxiety, addiction, personality disorders, and mental aging decline are some of the top areas mindfulness-based interventions can help.
However, studies in trauma reveal that mindful meditation may exacerbate symptoms rather than help to heal them. Focusing internally can often trigger flashbacks and set off a fear response.
My dream of making a meaningful difference.
Marilyn Flower asked, “How Do You Make a Meaningful Difference in the Lives of Women and/or Girls?” or how would you like to?
With a million and one non-profits making differences throughout the world, and my limited resources, I choose to focus in my own backyard, so to speak.
Donations of my time and money go back into my community. Places like NEWS, COPE family center, and Alternatives for Better Living. Also, the local thrift shop (that gives their profits back to the community), school fundraisers, our Boys and Girls Club, VOICES, and the local food bank.
However, my big, audacious dream is to make a difference through artful, creative, and mindful expressions. I want to teach the art of facilitating change by creating a bridge built with bricks of mindfulness-based coaching techniques.
Coaching starts with the client determining their goal that is associated with a problem they want to solve. This gives them ownership of the process of change. Mindfulness-based techniques use a variety of assessments and exercises to help the client move from any fixed areas within their mindset and step forward with confidence and empowered to make changes.
Using CBT (cognitive-based techniques) and REBT (rational emotive behavioral techniques) is a key component. To summarize it, CBT allows the client to focus on developing awareness of their self-talk and negative thought patterns. REBT focuses on the rationality of their underlying core beliefs.
It is important to note that this is not the same as therapy, and it is the coach's responsibility to know the difference. Coaches use these techniques to allow the client to work at their own pace and focus on what they want to accomplish. If the need for further interventions by a professional therapist arises, they place referrals.
Using my experience and education in coaching and entrepreneurship, I want to train facilitators, teachers, and small women-owned businesses in using art and mindfulness to facilitate change. I would encourage the use of Canva as the creative vehicle to share artistic visuals and provide tangible ideas. Canva’s mission and vision are as incredible as their software.
Eventually, I intend to create a mindful expression online program to expand the reach of others who can take it back into their own communities.
The core of the program blends mindfulness techniques and artistic pursuits that prompt your mind toward growth and expansion. Changing your mindset changes your lifestyle. Incorporating emotional and spiritual intelligence with creative expression can make a difference in lifestyle choices for adults who have forgotten to imagine and dream. In doing so, it naturally passes hope on to the kids in their lives.
We can give all the resources to the children that we want, but they need kind, nurturing, compassionate adults to believe in and aspire to be. Children learn by example, so focusing on the adults sets the kids up to have support for their changes, too.
In our hurried, busy, stressful lives, we can sometimes forget children are a gift. They also hold the future in their hands. We often ignore what lies right in front of us. If we want to make a difference, we can start at home.
Don’t we owe our children and ourselves a sense of belonging and community and something to look forward to? I believe I do. After all, I made a promise to break a cycle.
I am the top “Juggler” of part-time passions. My character on the internet is Miz Mindful, attempting to share tidbits of expressions to empower the mind and muse. But, at the core of it all, I’m just jules. Please call me jules — all my friends do!
I hold three associate degrees in Entrepreneurship, Social and Behavioral Science, Business and Commerce with the extension of Microcomputer Application Specialist. But coaching is my passion!
The certifications on my list provide a variety of resources to lead a balanced lifestyle. I have certifications as a Master Mindset coach, which is in the 4 components of Confidence, Emotional Intelligence, CBT and REBT techniques. In addition, I also have certifications in Law of Attraction, Mindfulness, Meditation, Spirituality, Therapeutic Art, and General Life Coaching.
My business is “Mindful Expressions.” My dream is to help bridge the gap between mental health, spirituality, and creativity.
Mindfulness is not something you do, it is a lifestyle of continual self-discovery and awareness, with focused attention on our daily present moments, without judgment of ourselves or outcomes. To support that belief, I create journals, workbooks, wall art, and fun hippie-themed drinkware. (visual distractions to create a smile)
Mindful Expressions Online- my online store
Miz Mindful Designs and Coffee, Tea, or Hippie — my Etsy shops