Reflect— What Helps us Do So?
Image descriptor: Fall trees reflecting on a river which bends so you can’t fully see where the river is going. The white fluffy clouds and blue sky suggest a sunny fall day.
Good day, dear reader.
It is our first Sunday in November so it is the time where we often give you a little more of an overview on our theme for the month. This month we chose the theme, Reflect.
As we are in the midst of the changing seasons and nearing the end of the calendar year, perhaps we may find ourselves feeling a little more nudged in the direction of reflection.
So our question to you today is, how do you like to reflect?
Occupations, anything we need or want to do that occupies our time, often are part of our reflecting.
Occupations like writing or storytelling help us remember and reflect on our experiences. Or maybe photography is more of the way you reflect, or painting? Maybe you’re not a songwriter yourself but you are an avid connoisseur and fan of music as a partner in reflection. These are just a few of the occupations that are partners or paths to reflection. What would you add to the list? (Feel free to add your favorite ways to reflect in the comments below— its one of the best ways to help one another generate or remember more possibilities)
We hope this month opens the space and the pause for a little more grace for each other and ourselves as we reflect on the occupations and factors influencing the way we spend our time at this time of year, in a way that can support our growth.
What’s Next?
What can you expect to hear from us in November?
Well, we know you love the stories of others as much as we enjoy listening to them and sharing with you so we’ll have bonus interviews of Lives Well Occupied: Lessons from Near and Far to share with you. With all of these stories, there is the chance to appreciate our experiences and learn some of the very common experiences that effect our life’s flow and also gain insight into understanding experiences that may feel completely unfamiliar to us. The beauty is in experiencing both.
In addition, we’ll be hearing much more from other future occupational therapy professional voices as they reflect on growth mindset, grief, and gratitude. We hope to be playful and joyful in our gratitude while also honoring the necessity and healing that occurs as we walk and sit with our experiences of grief. We recognize and accept that grief is even more common at this time of year so we’ll talk more openly about that throughout the month. The OT students have been busy reflecting and our team is curating content with the intention of facilitating more healing conversations and content with our community so we can have honest conversations about what truly influences the way we occupy our time.
If you have suggestions— we welcome your ideas at any time. And, we’re making it easier by adding opportunities to connect in live time with us this month— stay tuned for more opportunities or reach out to create your own time to chat with us!
Wherever this post finds you, we can assure you that part of our process in talking about what we need as a collective or what content may help you as readers understand yourselves as occupational beings is being busy doing the work of knowing ourselves and how we connect with each other as well. We honor the growth that comes with acknowledging our grief and are grateful for taking the time to notice what we need as team to produce content that is relevant and connecting. We’re happy to say, actively taking time to understand ourselves and our team as occupational beings is yielding results we feel great about so we’d love to share more of that with you all.
Until our next connection— we’re right here with you on the journey…
To a life well occupied
