Task 2a - Becoming Reflective

Secretly, I’ve always wanted to keep a journal.  A big, red, leather bound one with a lock and a key, that I could hide away. A journal that held my innermost thoughts, my deepest secrets and wanton longings.  Reality is that my life isn't that exciting and that’s probably why I never have. ‘Had Nando’s, watched X Factor, had a glass of wine and went to bed’ is hardly ground-breaking journalism.  So now I have an excuse, the justification.  My new status as BAPP journal writer will, I hope, be a release, somewhere I can keep a private record of my thoughts and events that are unique to me. A chance for me to explore new ideas and feelings in a style and language that is personal to me and in a way I feel comfortable with.  

Reflection to me is a process of thinking constructively about both positive and negative experiences and identifying what was good or bad and most importantly, what I can learn from it.  Keeping a journal hopefully will give me direct benefits. It will provide me with a snapshot of where I am and what I’m doing, enabling me to self-review and develop, both professionally and personally, by analysing my own experiences.

Boud, cited in the Reader, advocated the use of prose, images, sketches, poems and even colour and form as devices to express ways of reflecting on an experience. I intend to embrace all these methods. I’m also going to take the 9 day challenge recommended in the Reader i.e. trying a different way to write using methods like lists, graphs, charts etc., and experiment with different styles. I will write accounts, make notes and try any way to make a record of each experience and hopefully find the 'perfect recipe' that works for me. It is important that it doesn't become a chore, that I find a style that I’m comfortable with.

So I’m off now on a journey of self-discovery, with the first stop being Selfridges to buy that journal. Watch this space….