About
Mindful Construct helps you develop emotional resilience through mindfulness and response ability. The articles here are not for the faint-hearted. Mindful Construct is the heavy lifting of personal development.
It’s not about seeking out happiness or basking in love and light. But looking into your shadow, learning from the dark side, deconstructing personal and cultural constructs to mindfully choose how to lead your life, and building the true foundation for loving relationships: self-love.
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Which means, nurturing your Ego.
That might be a red pill to swallow, but the rabbit hole is well worth the tumble. Working with your emotions — and that means all of them (especially the negative ones) — is the only way to really get serious about personal growth and development.
I’d love for you to join me in this exploration of emotional well-being.
Take a look at the resources to the left, as well as the most popular articles listed on the right. Subscribe to the feed to get updates when new articles are published. Sign up for the free e-class, Your Life is Your Construct.
And feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below each article. Or send me an email through the contact form.
About me:
My name is Melissa Karnaze. In Spring of 2008 I graduated from UC San Diego (UCSD). I received my B.S. in Cognitive Science with Specialization in Clinical Aspects of Cognition.
Since graduating I’ve been working hard on several writing projects, which has led to: the launch and further development of this website, the completion of a 90,000-word science fiction novel (which I’m finalizing edits for and aiming to get published), and the current content-creation phase for an online training course on how to work with your emotions. I’m also the Webmaster for The Pegasus Rising Project, a nonprofit that partners horses and humans for healing by providing free Equine Assisted Experiential Health Therapy to veterans and active military recovering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
This fall I’m starting the MA program in Experimental Psychology at California State University San Marcos, which I’m super excited about. My graduate adviser, Professor Spencer McWilliams, has a strong background in Personal Construct Psychology — which Mindful Construct is rooted in.
Some random things about me:
I’m a Matrix fangirl (who of course knows all three movies owned); I threw hammer for UCSD Track & Field for four years; playing ball with my dog makes us both incredibly ecstatic; Star Trek: The Next Generation was made for me; I lurve Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica; whenever I can steal a few moments I like to read anything by Isaac Asimov; and when my friends say I’m easily amused, I agree.
Now, in all seriousness:
If I had to classify myself in terms of my psychological conviction, it would be that of humanist (with some psychoanalytical undertones). I believe we are all born into this world with the potential and the need to be compassionate and response able individuals.
It’s just that sometimes our childhood experiences, parenting, and social programming can get in the way. And it’s hard to fight that as an adult, especially since so much of our beliefs and behaviors are subconscious, or unbeknownst to our conscious mind. Even science has a hard time pinning down what exactly the subconscious is, but at least we know it is powerful and very much a part of ourselves.
It’s so hard to fight the subconscious or to try to subdue the Ego (which I don’t believe we can suppress anyway)… that I don’t believe in fighting at all. After all, who would we be fighting — ourselves?
So let’s make peace with and understand the emotional self (which is intricately linked to the rational self), because it is the only starting point for learning how to be more effective in life.
Let’s make peace within, and bridge rather than segregate different aspects of who we are. Are you with me?
If I were a quote…
“We deal with our pain in many different ways, but over the years I’ve discovered it’s in joy that the uniqueness of each individual is revealed. If I can help a person back to a state of joy — well, my role has its rewards.”
–Counselor Deanna Troi,
“The Bonding,” Star Trek: The Next Generation
Thanks for stopping by!
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