Reflections (47)
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This morning the air in someone else’s town smells cool and fresh. Last night it smelt hot and sulphurous, and I admire the way the night has washed it clean.
Alt text tells me this week’s photo is, a stuffed animal in a mirror. I say it is the perfect picture of Ronnie looking at himself in a mirror to accompany this week’s blog post about reflection.
This past week I have been in and out of a reflective essay as I work towards completing the ‘ILM Level 7 Diploma for Executive and Senior Level Coaches’. I have learned not to wash the windows, clean the car or hoover to distract myself from setting down words in the right order. I have also learned to read (really read) the criteria. This has been huge for me because I have a tendency to skim read and think I know what I need to do. I then go off and write merrily and create a meandering stream that feels fun to write before I realise that this wasn’t what the criteria wanted me to do. I now make things easier for myself and the marker. It has taken a lot of time to get to this point in my academic writing.
Reflection is something that I enjoy finding time for...
During my teacher training we kept a weekly reflective log which included the following two questions: ‘What did the children do?’ ‘What did they learn?’ There was a lot to reflect on in these questions alone and it helped us to be purposeful about planning our teaching and learning in the widest sense. I loved writing up my thoughts each week and making progress in my own development as a result. In fact I loved keeping the log so much that my friends and I took a very large section of a tree from the local park to our tutor at the end of our time working together in celebration of ‘the log’.
When I was studying for my NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship) I loved the posh journal they gave us at the start of the course to record our reflections in. Again I remember being one of those in the cohort who relished writing reflectively. Interestingly I tried to record my thoughts neatly in that journal because I thought it was going to become a reference log. I recycled it a while ago and had a read through before I said goodbye to it. It was reflection in the moment, valuable for what it taught me and what I carried with me, but definitely not a reference book.
So, thinking reflectively has always featured in the careers I have chosen, and now it gets to be a key part of what I do. It shines with relevance and excitement for me as I strive to be the best I can be.
On Saturday morning I woke up with an extra sentence for my essay floating around in my head. Perhaps I had been thinking while I was asleep or perhaps I had rested well and a thought had floated its way to the top of my brain. This amused me and I marvelled at the fact that there was one more thought that I wanted to put in my essay.
Talking with a friend this week it was good to hear that they found my summaries of what brought me to coaching interesting and readable. This was my way of explaining the benefits of coaching and how I found myself choosing a new career. Coaching still strikes me as one of those things that has a mystery to it until it has been experienced, and then it sparkles with potential. I love helping people regain their clarity and I love thinking with people.
The conversation with my friend took place while they were out for a walk and I was inspired afterwards to complete the country walk from my door here. We had talked about making good habits easy by having your walking shoes ready by the door. I like this and realised that I hadn’t had a long walk since my ‘really long walk’ with my sister. I set out and because I was feeling happy from having enjoyed a good conversation I did nothing except focus on the walk. It was sunny and the air was herby which felt good. It felt like the kind of walk you have on a holiday when cares are far away.
My sister says I am good at walking her home on the phone at the end of her working day. I love that she loves this. I am also glad she likes me to walk her home and not to work because her walking journey starts at 4:30. I will let her cat do that bit and enjoy keeping her company when she is readying to relax.
(If you saw the most recent Pet Shop Boys video you will have noticed that Ronnie was jumping for joy in the place that this was recorded thanks to my sister taking us both there on our special walk.)
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