Reflecting on Reflexive Practice… Winter 2022
By Amanda Palmer
Reflection is important. It helps to take stock of what has been taking place, to celebrate successes, and to be reminded of threads that need to be picked up again and re-woven into the fabric of our work… and yet, it continues to be one of the first things that drops down my to do lists as my schedule fills up.
Last Fall there were several signals that this needed to be a more intentional part of my practice, and the practice of all of us who work in the community space. The CDLI Team was working through Ta7taliya Michelle Nahanee’s Decolonize… workbook, where we first were introduced to the concept of reflexivity. Additionally, I had the opportunity to take Working in Complexity Inside & Out with Chris Corrigan and Caitlin Frost, and the importance and power of reflection was woven throughout the teachings. I knew that I had to start prioritizing time for reflection - and reflexivity - for myself, and the CDLI Team agreed that this was something we could offer to our community as well. Reflexive Practice was born!
This year we’ve been holding space for an hour of reflection on the last Friday of the month over the lunch hour. To date, we’ve hosted three sessions where community members have been able to pair up to go deep on what changes they’ve noticed in their communities over the past month. We host one another through a ‘what’, ‘so what’, ‘now what’ line of inquiry, and gift each other and ourselves deep listening and intention. It’s a simple yet powerful process, and I’m so grateful to be able to make the time to do this with others.
If you’d like to join us at a future Reflexive Practice, let us know! We’d love to have you there.
“From this experience, I’m starting to reframe my thinking about issues I’m interested in”
Harvest captured from the January 2022 Reflexive Practice.