Reflecting on session 6 of our Reflective Practice Group: Includes feedback from some of the participants and plans for the future.

The main theme of this, our last, Reflective Practice session in this group of 6, centred on what we can accomplish with a ‘can do’ mind-set and some useful ideas and strategies to help us remind ourselves of our goals in life and work.  The importance of self-care is clear: how can we bring playfulness into our lives in order to keep healthy and happy.

We would like to share some of the images and feedback participants gave us to share.

 

From Sophia Dalley:

‘From our reflective practice session in March I am taking with me the image of two ladders, the one with small attainable steps being my preferred ladder. For me it is useful to know the long term goal but less daunting to focus only on the next step and the one I am currently balanced on.’

 

 

 Image created by Netty

 

‘I also love being in act II!’

Excerpt from Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach

‘Act One just sets the scene – who our heroine is (ourselves), where she came from, the forces that shaped her.  It’s in Act Two that the creative tension really begins to build as her story unfolds……..We simply cannot move into Act Two until we have several decades under our belt.’

‘I so enjoyed the session, I was wondering if I should have had a more structured agenda but found it refreshing to speak from the heart.  Thank you to Marta & Netty for providing this much needed space.”

 

Reflective reply by Marta

“Thank you Sophia, I know what you are saying about the ‘structured agenda’.  Our intentional lack of explicit focus of attention, but rather the implicit intention to encourage and facilitate self-direction do stop some people from joining in – it isn’t for all, and yet we know that mostly, once experienced, most of us value and relish the opportunities that the lack of an agenda provides.  

I was so glad to hear the word ‘refreshing’ in your feedback.

I wonder… We do try our best to get on with each other nicely, don’t we?

Why do we really fear public humiliation so badly? Have we… have YOU ever done so to another being?

We have concerns, fear perhaps even suspicions of what lies within ourselves and what others may think? Of course, we all do!

Our failings we fear mostly – concerns that some may be spotted by all as we open ourselves to their scrutiny, or perhaps even just our own.

I tell you my friend out there, there’s nothing to fear, but learning from our mistakes and that of others, as we laugh and hope, and relish the sharing… that we were not alone in our failings.

And perhaps, often, as wise Sophia reminded us of in her feedback, the steps in our ladders may have been just out of reach on many occasions, and all that was needed was fitting the right stride to our purpose.

 

Reflective reply by Netty

I am reminded by your response to Sophia’s feedback that I have grown most from the challenges and the failings and that if there is perfection then there is no learning.

I know I often feel an apprehension when joining a new group, even though I cannot recall being with new faces and ever being made to feel bad.  I have heard that some have had bad experiences but in a reflective practice group all is welcome as long as we are open to new perspectives on things and we do not have to agree with everyone, wouldn’t that make for a boring time!

I, too, find it refreshing to not have a fixed agenda.  I have enjoyed the chance to flow with the ideas and topics that bubble up into the group and have found that new ideas and creative suggestions flood forth in this environment.  Though it does remind me of the anxiety many I have worked with have felt at the opportunity to be without structure.

Reflective practice is playful, a bit like we are bouncing a ball to each other except it is a thought we catch and explore rather than an actual tangible object.

For me the steps remind me that even though I am taking tiny steps at times, I am still heading in the right direction.

 

Image created by Melissa Abraham

 

Thank you Melissa, we love the image you have created,  it seems to sum up lots of what we have been sharing these weeks - empowering and visually inspiring, with the added words that we are doing it because yes, yes we are!

 

 

From Netty

 I keep going back to the quote above when I am trying to grow and move towards new self-set goals.  It is a reminder that I can do things differently and that change is something to celebrate rather than to fear, especially if I keep my attention on where I want to be.

 

Future Cre8infun events online:

-          We will be running a 6 week Introductory Reflective Practice Course to teach the basics of the theory and usefulness of Reflective Practice in any work place setting. Dates and more details will follow soon, so watch this space if you think you might be interested.

-          We will be setting up a weekly reflective practice hour where you can come along for a small fee and find out what reflective practice is all about; dates to be confirmed.

Marta and/or Netty can be hired to run a reflective practice group for your work setting: email cre8infun@gmail.com for more information.