I use weird whacky words.  Some of these you can find in any English dictionary ... some of these are Yiddishisms or Sanskritisms which you can find in Yiddish or Sanskrit dictionaries ... and some of them, well, they just spontaneously occurred.


This act of inventing words makes me a neologist, or, one who uses neologisms. 
(The words neologist and neologism can be found in English dictionaries.)


Since I've been told I'm supposed to write so that a seventh-grader can understand me, I thought I'd have to whack the whacky words. 

Then it popped into my head that I could compile a glossary.  Since it seems more fun to write a glossary than to squelch my linguistic tourettiness, the glossary won. 

(I also thought you might actually enjoy my word-mishegoss.  See mishegoss, below).

automagical

When you create a new habit, or learn a new skill, and then get so good at this habit or skill that it seems like second nature ... and then, when the benefits of this habit or skill are more than you might have hoped for ... it's automagical.  (Of course, anything that seems automagical usually requires persilience.)


correctify,  correctification

Correctification is about taking advantage of feedback (positive or negative) to alter your course.  When you correctify, you make it possible for you to get off a no-where track, to get back on track, or to create a whole new track.  (Deep inner listening allows you to know when to apply persilience, and when to correctify.)

de-mojification

When something, probably an UNergizer, causes your energy to flatten out or malfunction, making it essential that you do what is necessary to re-mojify.



gantzeh megillah

A gantzeh megillah is Yiddish for long and drawn out ... for TMI ... for the entire kit and caboodle.  Example: "Cut to the chase, please, I don't need the whole gantzeh megillah."




Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)

If you are bright and creative, it's likely, although not inevitable, that you are also an HSP.   HSPs process sensory input more intensely than other people because of the way their nervous systems are wired.  

As an HSP, you are more affected by your physical environment (sounds, colors, temperature) and by your social environment  (people's moods, tones of voice) than non-HSPs.  You are aware of subtleties that non-HSPs don't notice, or aren't affected by. Accordingly, you are easily overwhelmed.  

At the other end of the sensitivity continuum are HIPs (Highly Insensitive People) who are less sensitive to their physical and social environments, and tend to be adventurous, risk-taking and tolerant of noise and chaos.

Both sensitivity and lack of sensitivity have their virtues, and are valued differently in different cultures.

The term Highly Sensitive Person was coined by Dr. Elaine Aron in 1996, when she explained HSPs to the rest of the world in a positive way, shining a light on their virtues and valued qualities.


~ivities

An "~ivity" is a suffix referring to the quality of whatever is in front part of the word which it is a suffix of. 

Creativity is the quality of being creative, expressivity is the quality of being expressive, productivity is the quality of being productive. (Sometimes, I refer to your qualities (and your quirks) as your ~ivities.)



leftovers

Leftovers represent stuff that happened in the past, didn't get fully digested, and got packed away in your consciousness (or unconsciousness) refrigerator.  Since they are on ice, they haven't been processed or released. 

Leftovers need to be thawed out, given time, space, compassion and respect ...  and allowed to shift.


life sherpa

My work is an amalgam of counseling, guiding, mentoring, supporting and encouraging.  (I avoid using the words therapy or coaching because the word therapy is a bit too diagnostic for me, and the word coaching reminds me of Bobby Knight, and I don't throw chairs.)

Lately I've been referring to myself as a life sherpa, because sherpas are guides, and more than anything I see myself as someone who has scanned the territory, and can help you get where you are trying to go. 

When I asked one of my clients what the phrase life sherpa means to her, she said  "A life guide.  I have spiritual guides.  You're my manifested guide."  Another client said, "It's a kind of holistic empathic coach."   That'll work.


maitri

Maitri (pronounced "my tree") is a Sanskrit word used by Buddhists to signify loving kindness, gentle compassion, and acceptance.  You can think of maitri as unconditional friendliness, especially toward yourself.  The opposite of maitri is aggression, hostility, or persnicketiness directed inward. 

The first step toward self-acceptance is maitri. 
(Maybe maitri is self-acceptance.)


mentsch

A mentsch is a decent, upstanding person who is deserving of respect. 


mishegoss (also meshugeh, meshugeneh, meshugener, meshugoyim)

• Mishegoss = craziness, nonsense.  
• Mishugeh = crazy, mad, insane
• Mishugeneh = crazy woman
• Mishugener = crazy man
• Mishugoyim = crazy people

When talking about a complicated, difficult, mind boggling situation I might refer to "all that mishegoss."  

(Alternative spellings are too numerous to include.)



mojo 

Your mojo is the force in you which allows you to do that big stuff that you have always wanted to do.  It's your magic and magnetism ... your power and pizzazz ... your snap, crackle and pop ... your charm, chi and chitty chitty bang-bang.  It's your energy and enchantment ... the fuel that lights your fire.




mojo-bag

Your mojo-bag is your collection of transformational techniques - all those mojodalities and mojo-medicines which you will use during sessions, and which you will learn to use on your own in order to make change happen.



mojoflow

When you are the opposite of stuck, when impasses and obstacles are not the main part of the picture, when shift happens and change seems automagical  ... then you are experiencing the wonderfully alchemical life-forwarding state that I call mojoflow.  

(When you are experiencing intense mojoflow, you may be in a mojozone.)



mojolicious

Something is mojolicious when it sparks your energy, expands your consciousness and gives you great joy.  (It's delightful, it's delirious, it's delovely.)


mojo-medicine,  mojodalities

Mojo-medicine and mojodalities are synonyms which refer to ancient and modern methods of change, transformational technologies and tools of enchantment. (They're what you'll put into your mojo-bag.)


mojomental,  mojomentous

When something is mojomental or mojomentous, it's of ginormous importance, at least to you.  Mojomentous moments and events are the peak experiences that we live for.




mojomentum

Your mojomentum is the life forwarding energy that drives your mojomental stuff.


mojomorphosis

A mojomorphosis is a profound and automagical transmutation of your pizzazz, oomphiness or life-forwarding movement.


Mojone 

That would be me.  Once I started calling my work mojotivity, some of my people started calling me Mojone.  Only they spelled it Mo-Joan, which I don't like because it looks like moan.    So I changed the spelling.

A friend of mine wrote Mojone in the sand:  





mojorexia, mojo depletion, mojo deprivation

Mojorexia, mojo depletion or mojo deprivation describes a chronic ongoing state of energy loss: not enough mojo or too-weak mojo.  (This state can be caused by the presence of persistent UNergizers.)


mojotivity®

Mojotivity is what happens when your mojo supports or fuels your ~ivities.   This can be expressed as an equation:



It is important not just to have energy, but to channel this energy into your creativity, spirituality,  expressivity, productivity, perceptivity, receptivity, positivity, sensitivity, sexuality, connectivity and other quintessential qualities.


mojotivity-cache

Your mojotivity-cache consists of those traits,  talents, qualities, quirks, attitudes, skills, and beliefs which you can call upon for support in times of emotional distress. 

Your mojotivity-cache holds your deep inner resources.


mojotivity magnifier

Anything which feeds your soul, zaps UNergizers, or which fuels or amplifies your mojotivity or the resources in your mojotivity-cache.


mojotivity malfunction

When something either interrupts your mojoflow, or prevents your mojo from fueling your ~ivities, you are having a mojotivity malfunction.  Chronic mojotivity malfunctions can lead to mojorexia.


Mojotivity Quotient (MQ)

Follow this closely:  your MQ, or Mojotivity Quotient,  is a number which is the end result of an imaginary equation which (if I knew how to do calculus) would be dependent upon the quantity and quality of your mojo (assuming your mojo was a wave) and how successfully it integrates with your best qualities (assuming your qualities were particles).

This equation might (or might not) look like this, if I knew anything about what this sort of equation should look like:



OK.  I'm kidding.  Sort of.   But my point, and I do have one, is that MQ kind of subjective.  To help you figure out your own Mojotivity Quotient, I'm preparing a Mojotivity Self-Assessment.  When it's completed you'll be able to download it from the Free Stuff page.




The Mojotivity Way

The Mojotivity Way is a transformative path which one takes to dissolve impasses and to amplify joy.  It is based on the idea that you already have what you need, even though you don't yet know how to use what you've got.  

The Mojotivity Way presupposes that there is a field of energy, inspiration and creativity which you can tap into because you are already part of it.  This source-field is your birthright, and the mojoflow that happens when you connect with it is your natural state.  Anything which interrupts this natural state is an unnatural thwarting.

The Mojotivity Way is about releasing and healing the causes of disconnection ... about reconnecting to your essence ... and about getting your mojo to flow.


mojotudes 

William James wrote that  "the greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."   Mojotudes are the indispensable attitudes of highly mojotivitous people (that is, people with high MQs).  By fostering the right mojotudes you can amplify the virtues in your vices, the creativity in your quirks, and naughtiness in your niceties. (See Quirkitude, below)




mojo-zone

Your mojo-zone is a state of intense focus and flow where everything almost seems to stream forward on it's own accord.


oy,  oy gevolt

Yiddish for OMG, or good grief.


persilience

Persilience - an amalgam of perseverance and resilience - is the alchemical catalyst which makes things happen. 

With innate ability and inspiration you have the raw materials of a charmed life;  persilience takes those raw materials and transmutes them into gold.


quirkitude

Quirkitude is the attitude you embody when, instead of rejecting, shaming, blaming, hiding or denying your own uniqueness, you embrace your essential nature - quirks, warts and all.  (Quirkitude is a mojotude.)




re-mojify

To restore your natural energy set-point.  To renew your mojo, and bring it back to fit, phat and flourishing.


stuckitivity

When you are experiencing stuckitivity you are blocked ... stymied ... perched on a persistent plateau.  Caught in an impasse, you are unable to move forward, out of touch with your mojoflow.  (When we work together, our goal is to transform stuckivity into mojotivity.)


triggers

Triggers are thoughts, sensations, attitudes, beliefs, memories or images which provoke unwanted feelings or behavioral reactions.  Some triggers elicit fears of unwanted future consequences by tapping into memories of past upsetting experiences. 
(Triggers are often connected to leftovers.)




UNergizers,  UNergy,  UNergetic

The opposite of mojo is inertia, apathy or stagnation.  Instead of feeling enchanted, you feel disenchanted.  Instead of sizzling, you're fizzling. Instead of energetic, you feel UNergetic. 

Unergizers, or mojo zappers, run interference on your energy, impede your mojoflow, and hold you back.  UNergizers can be thoughts, feelings, beliefs, memories or even people, places and clutter.   (Triggers are fast-acting UNergizers.)

The Mojotivity Way is about transforming UNergizers into energizers.


ungrounded mojo

Mojo is energy.  Energy is a good thing, except when it is chaotic, fragmented, bouncing off walls or anxiety-producing.      

I call this kind of ping-ponging energy ungrounded mojo.   When you ground, center and channel your energy, it can motivate you in a reliable way, and fuel your best qualities.


unmojofied or unmojified

You feel unmojofied - discombobulated, disempowered, depressed ... blitzed, bothered and bewildered - when something triggers negative emotions, when leftover stuff clutters your consciousness, and when you are barraged with UNergizers.    

Your goal is to get back into your mojo-zone and to reconnect with the talents, wisdom and resources in your mojo-cache .

_____________________

"Joan's work is like having an eraser that simply removes problems.

Once you work on a problem you can easily forget that it was a problem, because it's completely gone!"

Cathy Hedgecock,
journalist