Fill in the blank. Exhausted. Busy. Talented. Wonderful. Beautiful. Giving. Stressed. Happy. Lonely. Worried. Tired. Anxious. A Counselor. A Teacher. A Partner. A Spouse. A Family Member. A Researcher. A Presenter. A Writer. A Planner. Etc. What about Becoming? You are becoming. A colleague in class shared yesterday that he believes all of us are becoming. We're not there yet, but we're getting there. I like that idea. I feel like it gives me room to breathe amidst all the titles, emotions, and thoughts that I believe define me. The idea of becoming also gives me a sense of movement and growth instead of stillness and stagnation. I am a graduate student (stillness), but I am becoming a more competent counselor (movement). I am a wife (stillness), but I am becoming a better wife each day that I know my husband (movement). I am stressed (stillness), but I am becoming more equipped in handling my stressors (movement). I am beautiful (stillness), but I am becoming more in tune with the definition of what makes me beautiful (movement). Think about the labels you give yourself and the emotions you experience and add movement to them. You're not just a counselor, parent, teacher, doctoral student, etc. You are more than tired, weary, excited, happy, content, etc. You are becoming. Relish the space and freedom that this movement gives you.
Courtnay Veazey is a graduate student at Mississippi State University pursuing a Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling and working as a graduate assistant at MSU's Career Center