Defining the Writer (or other person) Within

This past assignment was appropriately labeled "Autobiographical Narrative of Self as a Writer" which sounds nice, but comes out as a huge mouthful that leaves you wondering how to digest it. Basically, the task was to analyze anything we may have written in the past, things we have yet to write, or our own personal writing style...etc.

I had to start with a simple list because my brain needed fodder. In this case I think the KISS principle applied: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pLRWULxUZY6uCvUvvjIESFk0MiCtZxVDgUPQicvc7w4/edit

Needless to say this was a nice exercise in self-awareness if nothing else. If you took at least five minutes to write down a list of items that describe you (it can be adjectives, or statements, or whatever else you wanted) what would you write? Would you like the things you had to say about yourself? This particular list focused on our writing, but I get the feeling if I expanded the list to include other areas I may find things I like about me and maybe some I need to improve. 

I think the idea here without turning this into another self-love lecture would be to turn this into a self-awareness exercise. And if you happen to read this and think it's a great idea, then realize you may have more improving to do that you thought you can take a cue from ol' Ben Franklin: http://www.thebridgemaker.com/the-benjamin-franklin-13-week-self-improvement-challenge/

Cheers,

Denora

The Long Road to Loving Yourself

This may be the first post in a long line of topics related to self-love...and I'm not referencing all-out narcissism or anything. Too many women nowadays are literally hitched to the self-loathing wagon and anyone who isn't seems to get the sharp edge of the hatred stick. By no means am I a perfect example--rather I choose to work at my relationship with myself on a daily basis. I read this article today from one of the groups I follow on FB:

http://www.jencomaskeck.com/2012/06/dear-self-you-look-damn-good-today.html

I had to laugh because subconsciously I do the exact same thing. I look at myself in the mirror, and I start to meticulously pick apart everything I don't like about my body. I wonder when this trend started to become second nature? When did women start reducing themselves to piles of sub-standard flesh? There's no doubt this practice is harmful in so many ways to our psyche, which is why I'm sort of rebelling against the societal norm in several ways. The first is diet related. After my month-long detox/fast I started an intermittent fasting protocol (don't freak out yet folks) which calls for a 6-8 hr eating window followed by fasting until the next day. This isn't much different than what people do everyday anyway (you don't eat while you sleep) but it just extends a bit into my normal day. The following websites are a wealth of information on the subject, but for now I want to focus on the idea of self-love:

http://fitnessbaddie.wordpress.com/

http://www.leangains.com/

I can tell you that since I have embarked on this journey of no longer hating my body every second of every day, eating large amounts of food I love, lifting heavy things and NOT running anymore (a subject I can go on about incessantly) I have felt a greater sense of relief and personal freedom. Even if I don't happen to hit some magical number on a scale, I have the proof of strength gains and more muscle which in aesthetic terms looks better to me than just a thinner version of myself. I've even caught myself looking at someone else and thinking "I remember when I wanted to look like that, but now I think I'd like to have more muscle."

I guess it just goes to show we can change our realities one thought at a time.

Blessings,

Denora

Learning Styles

Since I have returned from the wilderness of North Carolina, I find it is necessary to also return my focus to homework....

Luckily, none of the assignments thusfar are particularly grueling. In fact, this week's focus seems to be all about learning exactly how you learn--do you listen well, are you a crazy bouncy person, etc. I decided to take three of the offered quizzes and averaged my responses together:

What Are My Learning Strengths?

This quiz was broken out into eight sections, asking random questions about verbal intelligence versus logical or mathematical (not my strong point) versus visual...(you get the point) The scoring parameters were vague and I believe there to simply represent the prescence of a particular trait without adding a numerical value. Here's how I scored:

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence - 9
Logical/Mathematical - 7
Visual/Spacial - 7
Bodily/Kinesthetic - 8
Musical/Rhythmic - 8
Interpersonal - 8
Intrapersonal - 7
Naturalist - 8

Now, what does all of this mean? I had a classmate describe his experience this way:

"Also, being a "Nature boy", hiking, surviving in the wild, etc. I was surprised that I scored the lowest (3.86) in the Nature category. Maybe my instinctive knowledge of how to survive in and interact with Nature was more inter and intrapersonal than naturalist, as in:
"Hey, Bear! Wanna take a walk with me?" and "How does meeting this hungry bear make me feel?" rather than "Oh shit! A BEAR! I should organize it into a category in relation to these tall trees over there". hmmmm.... as I remember it was more like my buddy stopping me and saying "don't move a muscle or we are dead meat..." then instructing me what to do. Yeah, very Social and interpersonal.
And Language. Curiously, I did not sing to the bear. Maybe that is why I am still able to take surveys..."

If we follow his example I describe myself like this:

"I can tell you almost every detail about the bear, down to what he probably ate for breakfast, but not the mathematical relevancy of how much it weighs or what it looks like. I will also want to pet the bear and probably dance and sing with it, while inviting it to tea or some such other friendly activity..."

Now we move on to the next quiz: Multiple Intelligences: Find Your Strengths!

After this quiz I can conclude that I am a total, complete, and all encompassing hippie. I scored the highest in musical competency (5), followed closely by language (4.43), and finally by nature (4.14) So much for dancing and having tea with my bear-friend.

My last quiz attempt left me feeling well-rounded: Learning Styles

Visual: 44
Auditory: 40
Kinesthetic: 44

So in the end I believe I learn quite well by visuals, but also through music and other such mediums. I talk with my hands, write stuff down but hardly ever reference it again, and engage in as much sarcastic banter as I can muster from others. I'm a friendly, dancing and singing bear-hugging hippie. Moral of the story? Three cheers also for self-awareness.

-Denora

Writing Portfolio Introductory Post

It's been awhile...

Like so many other things in life, it's easy to forget about something unless we make an effort to include it in our regular practice. When I initially set up this blog I had no particular plan for it--hence why I haven't posted since March. In an effort to be more "organized" and in touch with my writing (something that has significantly fell off the wagon since I was younger) I'm going to utilize this space for my class and hopefully it will carry over after I've completed it. Our first assignment was to link our sustainability practice document so here that is:

https://docs.google.com/a/iliff.edu/document/d/1GVFcjgdUCyAWzz2Jor16coQKoB3AGIIevUNflDeQZfA/edit

Three cheers for productivity and sustainable practices ^_^

Denora