Growth Mindset: Pinterest Cats!

(Photo from Growth Mindset Resources)

I like this kitty for several reasons. 

1. I think believing in this is the only way I'm going to get accepted into grad school. I'm not a typical student, so I'm going to have to bring something different to the table. 

2. We used to have a grey striped, pale blue cross-eyed kitty named Aliera.

3. Cats dressed as unicorns? Absolutely.

(Photo from Growth Mindset Resources)

Not only does this cat look a lot like Mario, but it makes me think about how nice my park adventure was the other day and how much I need that back in my life. We also were talking last night about how long it's been since we went camping or hiking, and it's been a little over 2 years. Much, much too long.

(Photo from Growth Mindset Resources)

First of all, that looks like a baby Mario and it's sooooo cute! Secondly, I have way too much stress and anxiety in my life right now. I tend to avoid making plans with others because I feel like I'm too busy for it right now, but at the same time, an hour or two here and there to slow down and spend time with others would probably do me a world of good. 

And just like that, this became a cat blog again.

Growth Mindset: Random Cats!

(Because there weren't already a bunch of cats on this blog.)

(Photo from Growth Mindset Resources)

I love that this cat is making art, but you can apply what it says to art, writing, school, and almost anything, really. I think it's a good mantra to keep in mind.

(Photo from Growth Mindset Resources)

I love Buddha. I would call myself a Buddhist if I had found enough time to really explore the Buddhist philosophies and put them into application. But I do try to find ways to connect with myself and others, and I try to practice being present and mindful when I can. I also think this kitty is meditating and I need more of that in my life.

(Photo from Growth Mindset Resources)

I sort of feel like these cats while posting on this blog. I actually used to have much more of an online presence. I'm more of an observer now, although I do like to comment on other people's posts. Mostly I just post pictures of my cat on instagram. I think that may be why I'm having all sorts of fun in this class, I have to post for class, so I'm making time to do it. It's been a lot of years since I've asked my programmer husband to build me a new blog. I guess we'll see how I feel after this semester. 

Growth Mindset Challenge: Make a Mindset Motto

(Photo made with imgflip)

I think this quote from Mahatma Gandhi is a good one for growth mindset. If you think you can do something, you aren't afraid of failure and typically it gets done. If you're too afraid to try, you may never even get your foot out the door.

I picked these cats because they've clearly become what they thought, which is I guess space ships shooting lasers? Either way, I thought it was funny.

Growth Mindset: I love cats!

(Image Information: Photo from Pinterest)

I found the videos about growth mindset to be very interesting. I agree that we teach our kids all wrong. I wish I had thought of this sooner before mine was halfway through high school, but she has plenty of school left. I can always start encouraging some of this now. To be honest, I think it will be more difficult to apply to myself. I'm sure there are ways that I can, but it's hard to look at things so differently after this many years of school, and when most people in this country praise good grades over how much effort went into it. You also tend to get praised at work for higher number of sales and so on. I think our society would be better with this mindset, but I think it might be difficult to adapt to it. I am interested in learning more about growth mindset this semester even if I'm not sure how it fits in for me yet.

A class I'm a little worried about this semester is my psychology capstone experience. I'll have some kind of internship, but I have heard really conflicting things about what that is. Some have said they interned at Griffin Memorial Hospital, which I think would be fantastic. Others said they volunteered at the boys and girls club and it was like a babysitting job. I think that would be really lame and not tell me if I'll like working in the field or not. I'm also concerned about how time consuming it will be, because I want to work in another psych lab this semester. Hopefully I can make both work at the same time without going crazy and while still being able to accommodate my daughter's schedule.

That said, I love cats and really like the growth mindset cat pictures. I think they can be incorporated into my life pretty easily. Maybe I can have Mario pose and make some of my own, too. I chose the cat above for two reasons. One, I think that's a good motto for this class since we will be writing a lot this semester. And two, I have been writing fan fiction and most of my readers are in their teens and early 20's. They tend to be critical in not very constructive ways. I try to remember that they are much younger than I am, and that some of the things they say and do make sense for their age group and aren't necessarily meant to be harsh or hurtful. But some days it just plain hurts, and I feel really discouraged from writing at all. I think the only way I'm going to get through the rest of the long story I've been writing is to write without fear, and not worry about what anyone else thinks or wishes I did instead.