Melissa (Psychologist)

1. What is your current state of mind? If it's positive, how do you maintain it? If it's negative, how do you cope?

I feel a mix of good and bad regularly.  The ratios vary, but the absence of one or the other doesn’t. I start my day with a meditation where I spend 5-15 mins noticing the thoughts floating around my mind. My morning practice allows me to naturally continue noticing throughout my day, rather than get fully immersed in the feeling of good or bad. Instead, I stand back from the good or bad and notice it from the sidelines. When I’m unable to detach and watch from the sidelines, I know it’s a trigger that needs to be worked on. Which brings me to my next point.

2. What is the best way to train people to see the gradients in the world around them instead of just simplistic "this is good, that is wrong" view of the world?

Good and bad is nothing more than a map that points us to our triggers.  Triggers show us what we can expect to keep coming up in life, if we don’t neutralize them by going to the root and healing them. That being said, if we take a helicopter view of good and bad, we’ll see that they are actually gifts that motivate us to take action (get to the root and heal). If we do not take action, we suffer. Once we take action, we can more easily live in our purpose.

3. Yesterday's dreams aren't always today's reality. What drives you now? Compared to last year, or even two or five years ago.

I’ve always been driven by the same general principles throughout my lifetime.  Though I had dreams of different professions along the way (lawyer, social worker, psychologist, politician), they all point to a desire to move the world to a more comfortable place.  

Our personalities and habits can change but our essence (soul) does not change. Ask any mother or primary care giver.  Their child has a distinct signature today that was there the day they were born.

I would advise anyone who has given up on a dream of yesterday to look at the underlying purpose of that dream i.e. a dream to be a pilot might mean freedom seeking.  A dream to be a dancer might mean a desire to further human expression through movement or some other non-verbal, artistic form.  

It is important to never lose contact with your original dream as it contains important information as to why you are on this earth!  Look over your dreams and how they’ve evolved and look for a common theme.  Thread them together to tell a story.  That story can then be used to plan a fulfilling future.

http://melissabaisi.com/