Today we’d like to introduce you to Mitzi Campbell.

Hi Mitzi, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

When I was a young mother in my early 30’s with two young children, my mom began to have some problems. At first, she was just a little lost. Then, she started to get anxious. She’d always had some anxiety about things like driving on the highway or flying, but it got much worse. One day, there was an announcement on the local radio station that a criminal had escaped and was on the loose in town. A police officer found her pulled off on the side of the road crouched down in her car, hiding, hysterical.

Soon she got paranoid. She thought the government was watching her through the computer and they were going to deport her back to England. She was having panic attacks. Then she became so depressed, it would take her all day to simply get dressed. She could not do everyday things like cook or wash dishes. It just kept getting worse and we knew she needed help. She needed in-patient treatment. We took her to a clinic she heard about outside of Philly. She was lucid enough to not want to be local. As a nurse, she would have been recognized at our local hospital. The clinic was like one-flew-over-the-cuckoo’s-nest. A large man in a white robe wandered around muttering menacingly to himself, and my mom was petrified, but we left her there overnight. By morning, we couldn’t live with ourselves, and we went and got her out. She went to the local hospital after all, and she did get better for a while.

I had another baby, my third.

I knew my mom had a terrible childhood. She was born in 1945 and grew up in post-war England. She was dirt-poor and she was orphaned at 11. She spent her childhood fantasizing about what the perfect mother would be like. When she came to the US and had my sister and I, she became that wonderful mother she’d always wanted. She never spoke about her life in England. I didn’t know the horrible details, but she did. She carried unspeakable trauma with her and never let it out. It festered.

Although she made it back to functioning in a normal life as a wife, a nurse and a doting grandmother, she remained unhealed and it was only a year or two before the still unresolved trauma came roaring back, this time in the form of cancer.

She died when she was only 56 years old. I was 35 with three little ones all under the age of 5. I had no choice but to carry on. It all felt surreal to me. I was floating during that time. I don’t remember much.

We put her in the dress she wore for my sister’s wedding, pink with sequins. I did not cry at her funeral. I did not cry for years after she died. I didn’t know it then, but I was too crushed to squeeze anything out of me.

I plunged myself headlong into a Martha Stewart style motherhood of decorating my enormous new home, over-the-top birthday parties with cakes from New York City, private schools, fundraisers, Ferrari’s, rich mommy groups, parties, and lots of alcohol. This lifestyle was an elaborate, toxic coping mechanism, a fancy distraction I packaged up as living my “dream life.”

What else do you do when you watch the person who loves you more than you love yourself take her final breath?

You push it somewhere you can’t see it and you spiral out of control.

Long story short, you can’t work, volunteer, shop, supermom or party your pain away. You can’t find self-love at Neiman Marcus.

My saving grace at the time, which allowed me to hang on by a thread, was my work as a professor, that kept my intellectual brain alive and my love of photography, which fed my creative soul; that creativity was a gift from my mom.

One night, when my then-hubby was out of town, I put the kids to bed and sat down on the couch to watch “Sex and the City.” I didn’t know it, but a close childhood friend of mine had a guest role on the show. I was shocked to see her pop onto the screen. Excited, I jumped up, grabbed the phone and began dialing my old home phone number… to tell my mom to turn on the TV.

That’s when it hit me. I cried several years’ worth of tears that night and the only thing I remember feeling was a profound, irreparable lack of love. I was an empty shell masquerading as a person.

Along with the 2008 economic crash came the crash and burn of my marriage. I never had any real therapy even though I, myself, have a degree in Psychology, (retail therapy does not count) and I could not see that there were things I could have done to help me through my grief. I thought I was tough. I seemed fine on the outside. To others, I appeared to have it all. What no one, not even I knew, was there was nothing and no one that could help me feel the love I felt so barren without. It had to be me. And I was many years away from learning this. Sometimes everything must be broken into pieces so you can build it anew, better and stronger.

At the time, I had no idea this was all about self-love and that, with my divorce, I would begin a long and painful journey back to myself.

The way would be rocky. It would involve pilgrimages to the motherland England, dashed hopes, betrayals and years of self-exploration and scraping by.

But it would also involve finding my “person,” no strings, no agenda, no games. A real good guy who reminds me a lot of my dad. I think my mom would be sad about my divorce, but she would like this new (now old) guy, a lot, and she would understand. Because through all the difficulty she had dealing with her mental health, she “knew” things. I think that’s one of the hardest things, to “know” but not to be able to do anything about it.

I believe that if my mom had been able to confront and integrate her trauma, she might still be alive today.

Her trauma was losing both of her parents, being destitute and surviving as an orphan. My trauma was losing her and as I slowly began to realize this, over time, I also realized the reason for this difficult journey, she and I and even her mother traveled, is actually a golden opportunity. It is my role in the family to heal the generational wounds.

When I turned 56 years old, the age my mom was when she passed, I began to experience health anxiety. That was only a small part of a perfect storm of stressful and traumatic events that unfolded in my life from 2019 until 2022 including major loss and massive change, and one morning, out of the blue, I woke up with vertigo and my life has not been the same since.

The vertigo turned into a host of mysterious neurological symptoms and the healing process has required me to change everything in my life from what I consume in terms of food, drink and media to who and what I allow into my world. I’ve seen every kind of doctor and tried all sorts of therapies. During this time, I could not return to my job as a professor, but I simply refused to lay back and cry day after day; I had to do something. So, I put in my earphones and a listened to a course on how to become a podcaster. I knew my calling was to reach a wider audience with an important message of light, positivity, love, healing and connection.

At 56, I was meant to take a healing journey that required me to change everything about my life as I knew it. It’s no coincidence this occurred at the age my mother died. It happened this way so I could break the cycle.

I still deal with mild symptoms, but I have finally found a protocol that works. I will never let anything stop me from reaching my goals and fulfilling my dreams, the dreams I have for myself, and my family and to help others on their journeys to self-actualization, as we all proceed to heal the traumas and worn-out beliefs that hold us back.

It has taken decades for me to reach these conclusions about why my life has unfolded as it has, what it has to teach me still and why I should be grateful for even the most difficult parts. We learn the most from the hardest things. Never be ashamed of your story, no matter what is there, because you would not be the person you are today without every single perfectly imperfect page in the book of you.

Today, I know, I am just getting started.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

The road to the self is long, winding and bumpy for most of us! I’ve had many struggles, but I know they have all been for my betterment. We are here to learn and it’s our experiences that teach us the lessons that ultimately elevate us to new levels of consciousness. I would say embracing my role as a “free nester” has been my latest self-awareness challenge to overcome.

My three kids didn’t all leave at once, so I had the grace of easing into it, but here’s the thing no one tells you about the empty nest phase, it’s not about the kids!

When I first realized I was on my own again, it was freeing. I’ve always been a person with many interests, meaningful work and a lot of confidence and creativity, so I loved digging into my life. That part of it was great, but being just me again after a lifetime of being “mom” is a strange transition. I am still and always will be “mom,” but I don’t play the role of “mom” the same way I did for so long. I’m still figuring out what that looks like.

When your kids no longer live with you, you come face to face with someone you don’t know. There is a rebirth that happens and it’s a long process. Everything is a long process in my life it seems!

I am still navigating this phase of life to be honest. I wonder what my kids are doing all day long and whether they wonder what I’m doing. Should I tell them what I’m doing? “Hey, It’s Mom. I’m just going to the grocery store.” I am working through things like: How often should I call them? Is it too much to say Good Morning and Good Night every day? Do I still buy them underwear? Am I too involved? Should I be more involved? Did I do a good enough job? Are they ok? How often is it ok to ask them if they’re ok? If I ask them if they’re ok too much, will they think I don’t have faith in them?

Being a parent means you go from micro-managing to hands-off in the blink of an eye.

I am rediscovering myself and I’m watching my children rediscover me. I think we are all beginning to see one another as humans outside of our familial relationships and that’s a pretty interesting and delightful thing to be doing. I’m going to let it all continue to unfold and see who I become.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

At the heart of my work is my mission, which is nothing less than to raise the consciousness of humanity. If that sounds lofty, it’s because it is and I’m ok with that.

My over-arching role is that of mindset mentor and all my platforms and endeavors, including my Blessons Podcast, are devoted to the goal of helping people to access and embody a growth mindset because that is the gateway to success in life and activating your potential.

I am a mindset coach, and I love mentoring folks one-on-one and in groups, but my keystone tool to help people access positivity and personal growth almost subliminally, is something a lot simpler, it’s a daily text message.

For many years, my father has been sending out daily texts to the family with a cheerful “Good Morning” and “I love you” and an affirmation for the day. It hit me this year, how impactful these messages have been in my life! If my dad forgets to hit send, we all freak out! “Where’s the message?” My father has been empowering our entire family in a way that has wired our brains for growth, success, love, gratitude and joy, among other amazing benefits, and he hasn’t even realized the power of that! But I did!

After digging into some research on the brain, the effects of positive messaging and the need for connection, I created a system to send out uplifting messages across the world, so everyone can get the benefits in their lives that I’ve received. So my signature program is Your Positive Moment Morning Messages and it’s my proudest accomplishment.

When you are exposed to growth minded messaging and positivity, you will absorb the benefits of feeding and seeding your brain without even knowing what’s happening. My messages go the extra mile though, because I give you not only a greeting and an affirmation, I also give you a reflection, something meaningful to think about for the day and an action, an easy-peasy thing to do to keep you oriented toward the positive. My text messages are a game-changer and they are accessible to anyone.

I am not your grandma’s educator. I combine a lifetime of skills in academia, psychology, the arts and entrepreneurship into everything I do. I have a deep love for our collective world, and I see that a bright existence is possible for anyone who desires it. What you seek is seeking you and I can help you connect with it.

Any big plans?

You might think, at 58, I’d be ready to slow down, but I genuinely feel more raring to go than ever in my life. It’s go time now! I am energized by all the powerful lessons I’ve learned about myself and I have to thank you, because during this interview, I’ve become even more so as I’ve reflected on these deep questions. I feel lovingly armed with life lessons and I am fueled by the transformation I’ve achieved. I am at a stage where I can honestly say I accept myself in all my perfect imperfection knowing that everything someone else might call a mistake has been a wonderful opportunity for growth and improvement. I feel reborn. So what will I do with that? What does the world need me to do with that? I am open to answers.

My immediate professional goal is to get 100,000 people signed up to receive and have their lives impacted by Your Positive Moment text messages by the end of 2025. You can enroll at yourpositivemoment.com

In my personal life, I’m building a new house with my “person.” I have built two other houses in my life and both have represented important phases and periods of learning and I know this new one will be no different. But I’m different and I think this will be my best house yet.

I’d also like to get a dog. I lost my beloved little companion, Owen, (who carried me through that rocky period I described earlier), two years ago and I’m getting the “dog-mom” itch again, but not quite yet.

I think it’s important to always have a creative project going as well. In the very short term, I’m into making bucket hats right now and I have a pile of fabulous fabrics ready to be transformed. So I’m going to step away from my computer and sew a hat which I’ll probably post on my Instagram! I just can’t seem to get away from transformation can I?

Pricing:

• Your Positive Moment Morning Messages: $3.99 monthly

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mitzicampbell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitzianncampbell/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086033058973
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitzi-campbell-m-a-26575167/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9nGqoncQsQugZtyQVpeBg

Image Credits

Jen Parente Photography