The answer is almost anything!
Your journal is your space to explore, externalise and express whatever is going on for you. It is a safe, confidential and private space with no requirement to share with anyone unless you choose to do so.
Anna Sheather
The purpose of creative reflection
The purpose of creative reflective practice and your creative reflective journal is to give you a space to express yourself and connect to a deeper and more knowing part of yourself supporting your personal and professional development and growth.
All reflective practice gives us the space and permission to view our experiences and issues from different perspectives, challenge our assumptions, notice our patterns of behaviour and encourages us to develop new ways of seeing.
Externalising this and expressing this through image making enhances and deepen this practice.
Through this creative process you will gain insights and new perspectives, that enable you to make sense of and connect to those things that perhaps you are not seeing, not giving yourself permission to say or are hidden from you.
A creative reflective journal is a space to…
- Have an expressive outlet.
- De-stress.
- Get things off your chest.
- Figure out what is bothering you, what you are experiencing, why you may be feeling a particular way.
- Explore a particular situation.
- View issues from different perspectives.
- Challenge your own assumptions and established patterns of behaviour and encourages new ways of seeing.
- Connects you to your knowing self and what you may be hidden from you.
- Connects you with your somatic wisdom. Connecting to your body through the physical process of creating an image.
- Captures the ‘bigger picture’ and raises your awareness of connections and systems you may not be consciously aware of, or not able to see (organisational, relational, cultural and so forth).
It is about all of you
Although the focus of your creative reflective practice may be about your professional development, we know that we coach at our best when we bring our whole selves into the space. It is important, therefore, to use your journal for what feels right for you in that moment. Even it doesn’t seem to be relevant to your practice, it will be important for you and your practice. Trust your intuition and your instincts.
Action orientated
All reflective practice is action orientated and creative reflective practice is no different. Through your reflective process it will lead you to new actions and it is this that enhances self-development and increases personal fulfilment, leading to greater professional performance.
A Year of Creative Reflection
If you would like to develop a creative reflective practice or deepen your existing practice, why not join me for a year of creative reflection starting in February next year. We look at getting started and overcoming the barriers we can put up to creating images. We explore and use the Creative Reflective Process and together we create a supportive creative reflective space for image making, self-expression and reflection.
Find out more about this year long programme here: A Year of Creative Reflection
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