The M.I.R.R.O.R metaphor /acronym that I have selected to describe my concept of Self-Care is made up of 6 letters/ elements. M.I.R.R.O.R is aimed at helping you mirror back the “self” in you. M.I.R.R.O.R. can be used as an exploratory and assessment tool of your current self-care.
Engage in each element carefully. Do not immerse yourself in one too much to the extent that you get stuck in it. Use M.I.R.R.O.R with an intent to discover, understand, and embrace what is within you while aiming at growing and becoming a better you.
Sometimes becoming aware and acknowledging a certain state can be enough. At other times, some actions may be required. Some of you might need to consider one element or several elements of M.I.R.R.O.R more than the others. Remember, it is your own M.I.R.R.O.R and it caters to your own uniqueness.
M – Mind & Mental Health
M not only speaks with your thoughts and brain activity but also cares about their wellness and health. It is about:
I – Inner-Self & Intuitive Inclinations
I speaks with your emotional and spiritual state. It connects with your feelings and your intuitions. I invites you to view yourself as a multidimensional being who has both vice and virtue within (and acknowledges you that it is only natural and normal to have them).
Connecting with I helps you:
R- Reality & Recurrences
R invites you to a reality check. It invites you to explore the given and to assess recurring events in your life. R encourages you to:
R – Rituals & Recreations
The second R in M.I.R.R.O.R encourages you to re-visit current rituals and activities that you have for yourself and to create new ones when needed. It invites you to:
O – Oxygen & Oneness
O reminds you to breathe. In the midst of all that life can bring and take, and in the midst of your own self-exploration and assessment, you might become overwhelmed. O encourages you to check for coherence, alignment, and harmony among the different parts of you. It also reminds you that:
R – Reflection & Review
The third R in M.I.R.R.O.R invites you to pause, contemplate, and assess. It encourages you to embrace an empowering perspective of who you are. Connecting it to all the previous elements of M.I.R.R.O.R., the third R is about evaluating how all these elements are working together and whether they are working for you or not. If you choose to engage with this R without going through the other elements, it can help you reflect on your current state: how you have been doing things and how you can do them differently to better serve you. Some useful ways to consider the third R is to:
Am I… responding versus reacting? taking responsibility versus blaming? behaving with lightness versus significance? acting versus delaying? committing versus trying? respecting versus invalidating? trusting versus doubting? engaging truthfully versus fraudulently?
Alternatively, create your own, or select some of those created by others. Use them to evaluate your current state and to adopt a more empowering perspective that better serves you.
M.I.R.R.O.R is your uniqueness tool. It converses with your Mind, hugs your Inner-spirit, shines on your Reality, nurtures fresh Rituals and recreations, invites you to breathe… to engage wholly in being “One”. It rises from the deep, and ultimately does what a mirror does: a surface which Reflects a clear image… of YOU. Samar A. Naim