10 Times To Hold Reflection
The 500 Things Project Ep. 31
Okay, a clever list of reflection questions is all well and good, but when are you going to use them? The short answer is: at a beginning, a middle, or an end. The end makes sense. When something is over we consider what we learned, how things could have gone differently, or what we’d like to do again. We reflect at the beginning to help set our course. And when we feel stuck, reflection can get us moving again. Here are a few more specific times to reach for a reflection question:
At the end of a day or month
At the end of a calendar season or life season
Upon leaving a job
At the end of a relationship
At the start of a new project
Before kicking off a new habit
When you are feeling stuck in a project or season
When you are feeling out of sync in a relationship
When you are on retreat or vacation
As you come home from retreat or vacation
How do you pick your question? Despite the fact that I just made a list of ten questions and think they’re lovely, picking the exact right one is less important than just getting yourself to start thinking. Often I’ll sit down with a question, journal for a bit, and then find myself on a tangent about what is really bothering me.
On the other hand, a question can be useful to focus you away from unhelpful thought patterns. To use the enneagram questions from last week, take a look at the list and see if anything feels relevant to what you’re working through. If nothing sticks out, here’s what to do: pick one at random and get started. Ask a friend to pick a number between 1 and 10. Or write them down and pull one out of a jar. Then, set a timer for 10-20 minutes and start writing. Again, the important thing is to get thinking.
Happy reflecting -
Love,
Amy