Monday, August 3, 2009

Reflection

Why reflect? What is reflection? How does one reflect?

Imagine looking in the mirror at yourself. As human beings, we generally find it easy to notice our physical attributes when looking in the mirror. We may notice a new pimple, or that you may need a haircut or that you've got a great smile. In a similar manner it's possible to reflect on one's thoughts, actions and emotions. I'm sure that there are other forms of reflection as well but let's start with these 3 to get a sense of how the process of reflection can be a catalyst for realization which, in turn, has the potential (not a guarantee) of sparking tranformative practices that could lead to a greater sense of fullfilment, a feeling of being whole, being complete. Reflection involves the act of observation, similar to the noticing of a pimple in the mirror. The process of reflecting on your emotions, actions and thoughts may, at first, require some props to get the ball rolling. These props could take the form of journalling as well as developing a keen sense of awareness of what is. The thing with reflection is that it takes courage and stamina to witness more than just the obvious and then to act on it. Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result.

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