Reflection as action
I was sparked by this post by Chris Sessums to think about reflection as action. Reflecting means not only the recall of past experiences, but to do it in an explorative and creative manner, asking for example what led to outcomes, why you or others may have reacted as they did, and how the constellation of events affected each other. Whether you take a reductionist or holistic approach, whether your considerations are introspective or intersubjective, the intention is nonetheless to think critically and raise your understanding and rationality.
The crucial action is reflect with others. Near the time of the conception of her World Cafe format, Juanita Brown wrote that
Today, the internet provides opportunities to both communicate and reflect like never before. As I write this post, I am literally thinking aloud and trying to articulate something meaningful. I'm trying to connect some dots that I didn't realise yesterday begged to be connected. Chris writes,
The crucial action is reflect with others. Near the time of the conception of her World Cafe format, Juanita Brown wrote that
reflection enables new meanings to be seen and shared, allows learning to be noticed and integrated, and enables the "questions that matter" to surface.Reflection means taking a higher-order perspective, to query what we are thinking and why. Moreover, it's about talking openly and having strong opinions, weakly held. It means re-discovering our taken-for-granted presumptions and what is essentially meaningful to us. This intentional, conscious and shared effort may strengthen many our beliefs or put some of them on notice--you need to take a step back to recognise contradictions, for example.
Today, the internet provides opportunities to both communicate and reflect like never before. As I write this post, I am literally thinking aloud and trying to articulate something meaningful. I'm trying to connect some dots that I didn't realise yesterday begged to be connected. Chris writes,
The Internet and Web have afforded us an opportunity to re-examine and re-define our morals, our communities, our nations, and the globe. But will these conversations be limited to only a few? What mechanisms are in place to encourage and support a wide range of thought and activity? Perhaps now that we have the ability to connect one-to-one-one-to-many, we should begin thinking about how to harness this collective social power and turn it into meaningful social action, promote open and meaningful dialogue, and serve as a platform for experimentation built on a wide range of perspectives.So shared reflection is itself the action that needs to occur if we are all to get along better. While we should endeavour to invite more people into this conversation, how do we encourage people to be openly reflective if they stubbornly, timidly or selfishly refuse?
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