Journal Writing Experience.
For this task I decided to select a day at random.
After reading the set requirements, which applied to task 2, I decided to select and set a reminder alarm, to a designated day onto my mobile phone diary. The morning that this alarm was generated would indicate to me that I now needed to embark onto task 2c.
Description.
On the morning of Thursday the 7th of April, I woke early to the sound of my alarm, knowing that this was the day that I was going to begin my task. Having had a good nights sleep and observing the sun shining through my blinds, I felt energised and ready to commit to the task at hand.
Being quite an organised person I like my days to have a certain amount of routine and today was no different. At 12.30pm I went to the gym as normal. I enjoy starting my day in the gym as I feel that it provides me mentally and physically with more energy and allows me to acknowledge that I am fulfilling an important part of my work contract by keeping fit.
On leaving the gym at 2pm I went to meet my work colleagues and friends for a coffee. I find this a very social event as it allows us to converse with each other in a relaxed and social environment.
At 4pm, following the coffee break and social conversations, I made my way, by foot, firstly to the bank and supermarket, before setting off back home.
Arriving home at 6pm I now needed to take care of my laundry and complete a few household chores. Jobs, that through my independence, I seem to find stimulating, enjoyable and relaxing.
Following a rest in the late afternoon, I began my walk into work at 8.30pm, where my job that night was to participate in a show named Hot Seasons for a high school graduation party. There was a full audience and they all seemed very appreciative and through their responses seemed to be enjoying the show. However, during this performance there was a small problem, which consisted of one of the dancer’s shoes breaking, an issue which was resolved quickly and effectively without anyone noticing.
On this day, following the work commitments following a show, I was ready to leave work at mid-night and following a relaxed walk home with friends I arrived home at 1am. Feeling that I needed a little more time to unwind I decided to watch a little television before retiring to bed.
Initial Reflection.
My mood today was generally positive. I think that this was due to the weather as the sun seemed to both brighten up my mood and that of my work colleagues. When I wake up in the morning there is nothing more enjoyable than opening the blinds and being greeted by sunshine. It seems to motivate me into getting out of bed and completing the tasks that I need to pursue.
When the sun is shining I enjoy walking around the town in which I live as you can smell the salty water from the beach in the air.
Most of my thinking is done whilst walking and today I felt that a lot of my thoughts were positive. I had a brighter outlook in general.
The show was so busy, which has positives and negatives. The positives are that it is so much more rewarding dancing for a full house, especially when they appreciate it, where as the negatives are that a full house not only increases the temperature in the theatre but also due to the amount of smokers creates a very dry atmosphere, thus making it harder to inhale the very much clean oxygen that we all needed.
On reflection, even with the full house, dry atmosphere and with my colleagues shoe breaking, I am able to acknowledge that overall it was a great show and everyone seemed pleased with their performance afterwards.
I feel like today was a great day.
Reflecting on the content of my writing for this section, I am surprised at how much emphasis I have put on the weather and not on my work. I am now able to acknowledge how my days are affected by the weather and how this impacts on my personal, social and working aspects of my life here in Portugal.
List.
For this task I decided to select a day at random.
After reading the set requirements, which applied to task 2, I decided to select and set a reminder alarm, to a designated day onto my mobile phone diary. The morning that this alarm was generated would indicate to me that I now needed to embark onto task 2c.
Description.
On the morning of Thursday the 7th of April, I woke early to the sound of my alarm, knowing that this was the day that I was going to begin my task. Having had a good nights sleep and observing the sun shining through my blinds, I felt energised and ready to commit to the task at hand.
Being quite an organised person I like my days to have a certain amount of routine and today was no different. At 12.30pm I went to the gym as normal. I enjoy starting my day in the gym as I feel that it provides me mentally and physically with more energy and allows me to acknowledge that I am fulfilling an important part of my work contract by keeping fit.
On leaving the gym at 2pm I went to meet my work colleagues and friends for a coffee. I find this a very social event as it allows us to converse with each other in a relaxed and social environment.
At 4pm, following the coffee break and social conversations, I made my way, by foot, firstly to the bank and supermarket, before setting off back home.
Arriving home at 6pm I now needed to take care of my laundry and complete a few household chores. Jobs, that through my independence, I seem to find stimulating, enjoyable and relaxing.
Following a rest in the late afternoon, I began my walk into work at 8.30pm, where my job that night was to participate in a show named Hot Seasons for a high school graduation party. There was a full audience and they all seemed very appreciative and through their responses seemed to be enjoying the show. However, during this performance there was a small problem, which consisted of one of the dancer’s shoes breaking, an issue which was resolved quickly and effectively without anyone noticing.
On this day, following the work commitments following a show, I was ready to leave work at mid-night and following a relaxed walk home with friends I arrived home at 1am. Feeling that I needed a little more time to unwind I decided to watch a little television before retiring to bed.
Initial Reflection.
My mood today was generally positive. I think that this was due to the weather as the sun seemed to both brighten up my mood and that of my work colleagues. When I wake up in the morning there is nothing more enjoyable than opening the blinds and being greeted by sunshine. It seems to motivate me into getting out of bed and completing the tasks that I need to pursue.
When the sun is shining I enjoy walking around the town in which I live as you can smell the salty water from the beach in the air.
Most of my thinking is done whilst walking and today I felt that a lot of my thoughts were positive. I had a brighter outlook in general.
The show was so busy, which has positives and negatives. The positives are that it is so much more rewarding dancing for a full house, especially when they appreciate it, where as the negatives are that a full house not only increases the temperature in the theatre but also due to the amount of smokers creates a very dry atmosphere, thus making it harder to inhale the very much clean oxygen that we all needed.
On reflection, even with the full house, dry atmosphere and with my colleagues shoe breaking, I am able to acknowledge that overall it was a great show and everyone seemed pleased with their performance afterwards.
I feel like today was a great day.
Reflecting on the content of my writing for this section, I am surprised at how much emphasis I have put on the weather and not on my work. I am now able to acknowledge how my days are affected by the weather and how this impacts on my personal, social and working aspects of my life here in Portugal.
List.
I actually had a lot of fun writing the list of words. I found myself rather amused when I read back over the list a few days later. My list of words touched on the weather, my observations whilst walking, the items I needed to buy at the supermarket, words that stood out in conversations, Portuguese words I had learnt that day and the feelings I had felt that day.
I found this one of the most helpful boxes. When I looked back over the list I could actually picture myself there when the words came into my mind. It helped to put me back into the day and remember things I may have usually forgotten.
Evaluation.
I found this one of the most helpful boxes. When I looked back over the list I could actually picture myself there when the words came into my mind. It helped to put me back into the day and remember things I may have usually forgotten.
Evaluation.
I think that, on reflection, my day was very successful.
I feel that I managed my time well, which is not always the case.
My passion is dancing, so naturally the preferred part of my day was going to work. During the winter the audience is usually pretty sparse, so having the private show was a real treat. The students were up out of their seats dancing to the songs in the show, cheering loudly and having a great time. I realised I have to capture those feelings I get from a full crowd and apply them to days that are not so busy.
My dance captain Jayne, is always very efficient, so when the dancer’s shoe broke it was not a huge problem. I always tend to pay close attention to the way Jayne works, I believe it is part of my job to understand my dance captain. Members of the show may not always agree with the way a dance captain handles situations, my opinion is to accept her decisions and work with her to resolve problems and issues that affect the smooth running of the show. This was evident especially during a re-block half way through the show. Looking back on tonight’s re-block I can see that it is productive to try and understand Jayne's way of thinking, I already knew what she would ask of me to do, purely by knowing the way she works. I feel she appreciates this in me.
I left work feeling like I had done a good show with lots of energy, I believe my mood was reflected in my performance.
What If?
I feel that I managed my time well, which is not always the case.
My passion is dancing, so naturally the preferred part of my day was going to work. During the winter the audience is usually pretty sparse, so having the private show was a real treat. The students were up out of their seats dancing to the songs in the show, cheering loudly and having a great time. I realised I have to capture those feelings I get from a full crowd and apply them to days that are not so busy.
My dance captain Jayne, is always very efficient, so when the dancer’s shoe broke it was not a huge problem. I always tend to pay close attention to the way Jayne works, I believe it is part of my job to understand my dance captain. Members of the show may not always agree with the way a dance captain handles situations, my opinion is to accept her decisions and work with her to resolve problems and issues that affect the smooth running of the show. This was evident especially during a re-block half way through the show. Looking back on tonight’s re-block I can see that it is productive to try and understand Jayne's way of thinking, I already knew what she would ask of me to do, purely by knowing the way she works. I feel she appreciates this in me.
I left work feeling like I had done a good show with lots of energy, I believe my mood was reflected in my performance.
What If?
When I arrived to do this section I found it hard to imagine scenarios that were fun and exciting. Instead I found myself thinking, ''What if the hydraulics at the front of the stage broke?'', ''What if the audience were unpleasant and shouted comments at us?'','' What if I fell off the front of the stage?'' , ''What if it was my shoe that broke?''.
I decided to take a 5 minute break and return to this section to see if I couldn't be more imaginative. But when I returned to the task I could still not be positive so I focused on what I would hate to happen.
I feel I had this response to this task as I know I always worry about something bad happening during the show. As a professional dancer I have a lot of pride in the way I work, naturally things happen, but I realise I have to let go of these thoughts and realise I can’t control everything.
Another View.
I decided to take a 5 minute break and return to this section to see if I couldn't be more imaginative. But when I returned to the task I could still not be positive so I focused on what I would hate to happen.
I feel I had this response to this task as I know I always worry about something bad happening during the show. As a professional dancer I have a lot of pride in the way I work, naturally things happen, but I realise I have to let go of these thoughts and realise I can’t control everything.
Another View.
I decided that I would look at the day through my hair band. I had it on all day, apart from during the show.
My main thought being that it was probably thinking that I don’t live a very glamorous life!
The day began sweating in the gym and ended sweating in the show. It would have seen how my mood was high, that I love interacting with people and love to laugh. It would have seen me debating over which laundry powder to buy, and which eye-shadow to use in the show.
This was my least favourite of the boxes. I wasn't really very inspired. I know it is important to think about how others perceive you, but I feel I overly think this matter on occasions as it is. I like to reflect on my behaviour and how I come across to others, but I should not have chosen to do this task through my hair bands eyes.
If I used this technique in the future I think I would ask the person I spent time with to describe to me how they saw me, my mood, my behaviour, throughout the day.
Themes.
My main thought being that it was probably thinking that I don’t live a very glamorous life!
The day began sweating in the gym and ended sweating in the show. It would have seen how my mood was high, that I love interacting with people and love to laugh. It would have seen me debating over which laundry powder to buy, and which eye-shadow to use in the show.
This was my least favourite of the boxes. I wasn't really very inspired. I know it is important to think about how others perceive you, but I feel I overly think this matter on occasions as it is. I like to reflect on my behaviour and how I come across to others, but I should not have chosen to do this task through my hair bands eyes.
If I used this technique in the future I think I would ask the person I spent time with to describe to me how they saw me, my mood, my behaviour, throughout the day.
Themes.
There were a few things about this day I valued. I valued the weather, the audience, my friends and also doing this task.
This day fits into my week as an average day, give or take a few details. Seeing my day written down in this way makes me realise that maybe I need to allocate more time focusing on the course.
This exercise was very helpful. I feel I have learnt other, more productive ways to keep my journal . I read over some days prior to this and I definitely did not go into as much depth as I have done here.
I will be using this system in the future, especially for days that stand out as different, good or bad.
The most helpful for me was the List section, which I intend to use on a daily basis.
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