halmartin
Managing Change
Change will not come if we wait
for some other person or some other time.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
We are the change that we seek.
Barak Obama
The nature of change
Change is inevitable !
Change is to be expected and is a natural occurrence. None of us are exempt from change. Indeed, human development is dependent on change. We graduate from being a child, to an adolescent, to an adult, to a senior.
Over our life span, our health changes, our relationships change; we change careers. We may change where we live, with whom we live, even why we live. We change our habits; we change our minds. How well we manage change is a major influence on how we feel about ourselves, others, and the world in general.
All change is not created equal.
Some change is chosen; other change is imposed. Some changes are small; others are big! Some change is insignificant; other change is life altering. We have control over some change; other change is not subject to our control. Some change is welcome while other change may be resisted. Some change may be sudden; other change may be foreseeable over time. Some change is for a limited time; other change is permanent.
Change is stressful.
Unwelcome change is the most stressful. Certainly Covid thrust upon us many unexpected changes. Our personal lives can change because of an accident, illness, corporate downsizing, or even weather.
Even small changes can invite us to a stressful state. Think about how many times you have been asked to change your password for different computer functions. We call constant demands of the electronic world “digital soup”. Digital soup is surmountable but it can be annoying and frustrating.
If you have changed residences, you have faced changing doctors, pharmacies, dentists, or banks. That means filling out forms, and forms, and more forms. We call it “the bureaucracy of change”.
Although we may not have chosen the change we face, we do have a choice about how we adapt to the change.
Strategies for managing change
Begin by noticing.
- Take a few minutes with pen in hand to reflect on what change(s) you have experienced in the recent months? Did you welcome or resist the change? Did you think of the change as major or minor? Did it involve only you or were others affected? Is the change likely short lived or likely to endure? Was the change initiated by you or imposed on you?
- How would you describe your present way of managing change? What strengths do you have for coping with change – predicted or unexpected change? What kind of change is most difficult for you to handle?
- What skill or resource would you like to add to the ones you already have that would enhance your ability to manage change?
- Think of a change you are presently considering. It could be a career interruption or retirement. Perhaps you have decided it is time to change your life style and yet you simply stare at the scale each morning, dreading stepping on. Is there a habit you are wanting to develop or wanting to extinguish? How will you define success? Remember, success does not require perfection.
Use the SMART formula.
With the New Year comes the inevitable adoption or avoidance of a new year’s resolution. What has been your experience with New Year’s resolutions? By mid-life many of us have abandoned the practice of promising ourselves change and falling short of a goal formulated in an inspiring moment.
What kind of change are you wanting to accomplish? It is possible to set goals for tangible outcomes. It is also possible to set goals for personal development. Whatever change you are implementing, it is useful to use the SMART formula.
The SMART formula for setting a goal is that it be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time sensitive.
The following two links will discuss the criteria in more depth and introduce you to writing “Smart goals.”
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/productivity/how-to-write-smart-goals.
https://www.smartsheet.com/blog/essential-guide-writing-smart-goals
Now, take a moment to practice : Imagine your goal is to do more writing. Use the SMART formula to describe your goal.
Expect setbacks and diversions.
The Truth is that plans always undergo successive approximations and seldom result in exactly what we imagine as a final outcome.
Successfully implementing change is never a linear matter. There are internal setbacks and external setbacks. Our attitudes, values, and behaviors are the source of our internal setbacks. External setbacks come in the form of obligations, policies, rules, and limited resources.
Each change in plans could easily conflict with our initial expectation, resulting in possible disappointment, frustration, and annoyance.
Taking on too many changes at one time and wanting change to happen quickly contribute to feeling like you are not making progress.
One way to deal with unknowns is to think outside of the box.
Consider viewing the attached youtube, “Why science demands a leap into the unknown” in which the speaker (Uri Alon) demonstrates the concept of accomplishing change using a visualization of the unknown as a natural part of reaching any desired outcome.
https://www.ted.com/talks/uri_alon_why_science_demands_a_leap_into_the_unknown – t-937674
Consider a lighthearted approach.
Inviting change into our lives can be fun and rewarding. Even changes that we don’t welcome present opportunities to live life playfully. When you have a setback, consider simply saying to yourself, “Ooops” and get back on track.
Summary to remember
- Things will always change over time; this is a natural occurrence.
- We can only alter aspects of change that are under our control.
- We can often influence the direction and speed of change.
- Making small inroads to change can have large payoffs.
- We don’t have to enjoy change initially; many times, it is worth the wait.
- There are many ways for us to adjust our perceptions (the way that we view events).
- We can embed fun into our change process.
- Managing change is a skill that takes practice and commitment.
- There is no rule preventing us from changing direction.
Research
This short research reflection points out that: people who write down their goals, are far more likely to achieve their goals.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/achieving_your_goals_an_evidence_based_approach
Reading
Think of a change as a dream you are going to make real. Enjoy some creative suggestions in the book Make Your Creative Dreams Real by SARK.
Make-Your-Creative-Dreams-Real
The author says about the book “I wanted to write a book to help all the creative dreamers make their creative dreams even more real….I have a lot to share about struggle and success, and the long flat places in between. My experiences as a recovering procrastinator and perfectionist give me a keen understanding of how they work to delay creative dreams (and why that’s sometimes a good thing).”
Writing strategy of the month: Questioning
Consider a change that you are already engaged in.
Write down as many questions as you can about the change and its consequences to your life. Aim for at least 15 questions. Be sure to include lots of open-ended questions as well as a few closed (yes or no) questions.
Set the questions aside for a day or two. Then, sit down and write your responses as if you are interviewing yourself. Then pause and reflect on what you are noticing about your responses.
Photo of the Month
Based on a change that you have already experienced, select one of your own photos that best tells the story of your involvement in this change. Write down the story as if you were telling it to a friend. If you have a before and after photo, this is a great way of framing a story.
People who write down their goals, are far more likely to achieve their goals.
This short research reflection points out that: people who write down their goals, are far more likely to achieve their goals.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/achieving_your_goals_an_evidence_based_approach
Pause,, Relax,,, Open,,,,, Trust
What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Judy Brown
–from poem “this is from fire”
At the end of any activity cycle (or at the beginning), one of the essential principles of “having dreams come true” is resting and relaxing yourself.
Easier said than done, since most of us are committed to being productive, efficient and relentless, striving toward our goal to accomplish.
Pause creates a healthy space for renewal.
Pausing is something that we can practice on a very small scale, a practice that refreshes us without threatening the continuity of our involvement in life. Pausing can be as simple as a five second glance at the wind in the leaves, or the warm smile returned from your friendly wave toward someone.
Relaxing momentarily in that pleasant, quiet moment creates a space for your next creative move. Relaxing in the moment sets you up to Opening to the next breath and to the inspiration centred in the activity that you are enjoying.
In that new space, Trusting then becomes easy. You are more able to trust that your dreams are unfolding slowly and gently in a manner that is very comfortable and rewarding.
Pause, Relax, Open, Trust. Say these words often and gently to yourself.
Or explore these words on paper using one of the writing strategies on our web site.
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Our work at Prairie Wind is momentarily pausing at this time in order to shift the location of our home. We are leaving our pastoral home in the country, to live in a peaceful community in the big city – a home that is closer to many of our aging friends, a home that offers fewer physical demands, a home nearer many amenities and requiring less travel.
We plan to suspend our newsletter for a month or two while we relocate, after which we will continue exploring the joys of writing and your meaningful participation.
Reflections on the year
“The more reflective you are, the more effective you are.”
Hall And Simeral
Anniversaries are natural times to reflect. Prairie Wind Writing Centre has produced a newsletter each month (12) during its first active year.
Each newsletter has focussed on a theme, suggested readings, relevant research, and offers a writing strategy to personalize each theme. For fun, we included a photo question in each edition.
Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback and suggestions by giving us your feedback (Newsletter Feedback Form link below) on our first twelve newsletters.
We are also interested in requests that you may have regarding future themes.
Now let’s review the themes and the writing strategies we addressed in our first year.
If you wish to review the original one of the full newsletters, simply click one of the titles below, they are actual links.
To write or not to write?
There is only one point to writing.
It allows you to do the impossible.
Writing makes sorrow endurable, evil intelligible,
justice desirable and love possible.
Roger Rosenblatt (2012)
This inaugural newsletter outlines the benefits of reflective writing. Enhancing reflection in your own life, supporting others who are significant to us, guiding others we may be working with, and strengthening our writing skills, to mention just a few. It also provides links to solid evidence of the benefits. The strategy of the month is the pyramid strategy. A good starter for writing projects.
About Hope
Ask people about hope
and they will tell you a story.
Sarah Jane Pennington
The About Hope newsletter introduces ‘this thing called hope’. “A day with hope guarantees nothing. A day without hope is difficult.” Stories are central to reflecting on hope and to your hope focused practice.
To deepen the understanding of hope, readers are directed to Hope Studies Central at the University of Alberta and to a body of research demonstrating the value of hope. The strategy of the month is story.
Celebrating Joy
Joy is to fun, as the deep sea is to a puddle.
It’s a feeling inside, that can hardly be contained.
Terry Pratchett
Celebrating Joy highlights the benefits to your physical and emotional health of living life with joy. Recognizing your own joy triggers the chance of noticing the available joy. Similarly, understanding your blocks to joy enhances your ability to deal with them. The writing strategy for the month is the list strategy.
Staying in the Calm Zone
Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.
Ma Jaya Sali Bhagavati
Staying in the calm zone begins with a look at the challenges in this period of time in your life. Are you over or under stimulated? How is the stress affecting you? The calm zone is the emotional zone in which you can feel comfortable, safe, composed, and even relaxed. The benefits of being in the calm zone are outlined. As is the process for arriving and keeping your position in the calm zone. The suggested writing strategy is the dialogue strategy.
Cultivating Courage
There is not enough darkness in the world
to extinguish one candle.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Cultivating courage looks at the circumstances in which you feel the need for courage, and to whom you look to as models of courage. It reminds you that “courage is not a single act but a mental set” deeply connected to your values and beliefs. Courage itself does not guarantee an outcome. Whether you need a small or large dose of courage, you have a choice to live from a place of fear or from a place of hope and courage. The “This I believe essay” is the writing strategy of the month.
Caregiving is not for sissies!
Caregiving will never be a one-size-fits-all.
Nancy Kriseman
Caregiving is not for sissies addresses the complexity of caregiving. Caregiving is a task that is either imposed or chosen by many and comes with challenges: to consistently respect the capacities of those you are caring for; accessing resources often hampered by bureaucracy; and your own well-being.
The caregiving experience does have its rewards. Special memories get made. Regrets get avoided. New perspectives on your own life emerge. “Journaling in the third person” is the writing strategy of the month for caregiving.
Pathways to Lightheartedness
If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.
Rami
Pathways to Lightheartedness recommends, despite a world fraught with serious issues, that it is never too late to be happy. Unlike people who are constantly heavy hearted, lighthearted people are not burdened with the expectation that everything needs to go well. The newsletter describes the pathway to lightheartedness as a process and provides helpful guidelines.
For example: restricting exposure to negativity, using humor, being selective in your language, redoubling your gratitude, and engaging with others who have positive attitudes. Contrasting strategy, the strategy of the month, is a method of using writing to explore the best and worst scenarios.
Befriending your inner author
Nourish your inner author, and she will flourish.
Starve your inner author, and she will perish.
Sarah Jane Pennington
Befriending your Inner Author speaks to that part of you that yearns to write, whether a poem, story, essay, novel, or journal. We provide prompts to help you get to know your inner author and your inner critic. A lighthearted list identifies the many interruptions that can distract your inner author. The newsletter asks “what encouragement do you need to begin or continue writing?” Letter writing is the strategy of the month.
Improving Your Practice
Commitment and practice are powerful partners.
Sarah Jane Pennington
Improving your practice is a reminder of the simple reality that becoming proficient at anything takes time and practice. This isn’t just about physical skills. It takes time and practice to develop a commendable character. One begins with a decision and follows it with practice. It’s never too late or too early to begin. Developing a reflective writing practice records progress and addresses shortfalls. It will literally change your life. The strategy of the month is the thirty day challenge.
Letting go of needless baggage
Accepting your history need not be your destiny.
Joseph Palmar
Letting go of needless baggage invites you to examine the unfinished business and clutter in your life. To free up space in your life, mind, and heart for creativity. There is a need for selectively letting go of physical and emotional baggage.
It begins by identifying what should go. It may or may not be important to understand the “why” of how the needless baggage accumulated. Metaphor is the strategy of the month.
Saying No, the easy way
Not everything matters equally.
Gary Keller
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.
Oscar Wilde
Saying No, the easy way confronts the age old challenge of deciding on your priorities. The yes/no dilemma is not always straightforward. There are healthy reasons for saying yes and yet learning to say no is the key to preserving your physical and emotional energy.
Avoiding the ‘yes” traps takes practice. Specific strategies and reflective questions for understanding your willingness or hesitancy to say “yes” or “no” will get you practising. Written rehearsals are the strategy of the month.
Images and Echoes:
The Power of Photography
Images of our memories repeat,
like the fading echo of a trumpet in a mountain valley.
Joseph Palmar
Images and Echoes describes the power of language and photography to take us, not only down memory lane, but to visions of the future. The newsletter provides numerous examples of how images influence individual lives. Photo-journalling often unlocks understanding not reached with one medium. This newsletter is packed with suggested readings. The strategy of the month is free fall writing.
Doing Life: Reflections of Men and Women Serving Life Sentences
Doing Life: Reflections of Men and Women Serving Life Sentences by Howard Zehr.
Long-time advocate of social justice, Zehr suggests that we “tend not to see victims or offenders as real people. We seldom understand crime as it is actually experienced; as a violation of real people by real people.”
The author combines photographs and interviews to answer the questions, “What does it mean, for those experiencing it, to be locked up for life, with little or no possibility of ever returning to society?”
I’m not crazy, I just lost my glasses: Portraits and Oral Histories of people who have been in and out of mental institutions
Lonny Shavelson (1986), published by De Novo Press, CA. This book humanizes the experience of “madness” and related treatment, not in abstract jargon but in commonplace language of the wounded.
We experience these people with faces and voices of their own, with stories to tell. It is worth asking your library if they can access a copy for you.
Contemplative Photography: Seeing with wonder, respect, and humility
Contemplative Photography: Seeing with wonder, respect, and humility. by Howard Zehr (2005). Published by Good Books, PA.
With this book, Zehr makes a gift to anyone who would like to connect photography to seeing and thinking more deeply. In each chapter he offers a Purpose, a Problem, and an Activity with a camera in order to “practice mindfulness.” The author suggests that the value of experiences will be increased if you journal during or after the exercises.
Images and Echoes: The Power of Photography
Images of our memories repeat,
like the fading echo of a trumpet in a mountain valley.
Joseph Palmar
When you walk down memory lane, what comes to your mind?
With almost every image, there is an echo. With almost every memory, there is an accompanying image. There may be feelings of warmth, joy, inspiration, nostalgia, regret, or pain.
Recalling pleasant experiences
A faded image of Grandma holding you on her knee brings back the treasured experience of freshly baked cinnamon buns. Your mouth may still water.
The year book photo of Rob whispers, “He was so neat. I wonder what happened to him.” In a moment you relive his awkward words just before your first dance.
A hearty laugh echoes the enjoyment of the mud fight caught on film by your mom who captured the experience rather than being concerned about extra laundry.
The image of the old barn and hay slings recalls the carefree days of summer on the farm.
In the album of the trip to Colorado, the Grand Canyon still brings forth a sense of awe.
Your heart still swells with pride, each time the remembered image occurs of your son’s salute as he accepts his “wings” on the air force tarmac.
Images that echo from the future
Echoes from the past are logical. Echoes from the unknown are understandably mystical. Your future can speak to you through images.
The neighbour’s travelogue, a homemade slide show bespeaks of your yet unformulated plans for a trek abroad.
The unique image on the book cover of a bookstore display deepens your dream of writing that novel that yet evades you.
In his hip waders, Bill is captured dancing with delight as he shows off his prized catch of trout, and in so doing tempts you to organize that long imagined fishing trip.
Learning from images
The use of photography in mental health dates back a century and a half. It has been used by educators, clinicians, and researchers to reveal new understandings of our own psychological world. We can learn a great deal about ourselves from the photos we take.
To participate in therapeutic photography you don’t need a fancy camera or membership in a camera club. An iPhone is sufficient. The object is not a flawless image. It is noticing how you see the world. Photographs can assist us in organizing our lives as a story. Many wonderful projects demonstrate the contribution of image to understanding families and communities, enhancing self-esteem, intensifying focus, and improving coping skills.
Examples of the benefits of capturing images
The contribution of photography to mental health is well documented. My own experience with people confirms just that.
A single young mom whose severely handicapped son passed away at twelve years of age was mistakenly counselled that her future now had more options. Conventional grief counselling was failing. She found solace by putting together a memoir of photographs of her son along with written reflections.
An adult female was distracted by the obvious distortions caused by her muscular dystrophy. She had a head and shoulders portrait taken that captured her true self.
A project with youngsters used photography to demonstrate that in many ways our brains are cameras. We all take still and video recordings of our life experiences! Being taught the basics of good photography helped these young people recognize that they could soften images in their mind that were captured during trauma. They demonstrated considerable improvement of their processing of difficult images.
At the Hope Foundation, hope deficit clients were given a disposable camera to take a photograph that represented hope before their next appointment. Even when they reported that they could not find an image of hope, they were occupied all week looking for hope.
Camera and Pen
The roots of the words of “photography” are “to paint with light”.
Combining your camera and your pen can add depth to your journaling experience. Photo journalling is more than illustrating your journal entries with pictures. As you take note of your photographic preferences, you will begin to notice that life comes in shades, and that there are always degrees of light and darkness; that some things are best out of focus, and sharp focus is only necessary under some circumstances.
Recalling images that evoke feelings
Some photos evoke neither memories nor dreams. Rather, it is an emotion that is summoned forth as a response:
A smile comes across your face as you gaze on the unknown laughing child.
Compassion or pity goes out to a homeless man whose despair is recorded by a foreign correspondent in the area hit hardest by a cyclone.
The image of a wolf shot from the air, and not only with a camera, jolts you out of complacency to join the naturalist movement.
The scene hanging over the fireplace in your favourite restaurant nourishes you.
The poster of thousands of owner-built planes at the annual air show tweaks your long buried interest in flying.
At the gallery, it is a gnarled tree that captures your attention.
Walking near the majesty of the waterfall, it is a quiet eddy that tempts you to press the shutter.
At the rodeo, you find yourself scanning the crowd rather than the cowboys for a candid shot.
In a cathedral, one stained glass window speaks to you in a language you cannot decipher. Your soul seems to come home as you gaze upon it. You point and shoot, hoping the light is sufficient.
Time and time again, you find yourself photographing aging architecture that echoes a yearning for which you have no words.
Recalling ambivalent images and echoes
A framed black and white image of the quiet wooded path shrouded in the morning mist awakens the last conversation you shared with a trusted friend before war forever snatched him away.
Your brother’s convocation photograph echoes your failure to complete college. Your absence in the family portrait publicly announces your estrangement.
At the sight of the schoolyard photo located in the museum, you recollect the taunts endured because you spoke English poorly the first couple of years after immigrating.
Recommended reading
Creative Guide to Exploring Your Life: Self-Reflection Using Photography, Art, and Writing. by Graham Gordon Ramsay and Holly Barlow Sweet.
This creative guide to exploring and understanding who you are, what you value, and what you wish to achieve brims with imaginative exercises and examples that use the power of photography, art, and writing as tools for self-discovery. It provides clear and accessible guidance on how to explore different parts of your identity. Exercises are accompanied by searching questions for self-reflection, and are complemented by examples of each exercise to provoke ideas and inspiration. Featuring additional guidance for teachers, counselors, and other professionals running the exercises in group settings, this book offers a dynamic and enjoyable way for you to explore different aspects of your life.
Images and Echoes: Exploring your life with photography and writing edited by Dr. R. Jevne.
This beautifully illustrated hardcopy book captures the explorations of seventeen women who reveal their stories through writing and images. Join them as they delve into the worlds we commonly call family, work, learning, healing, relationships, and spirituality. Explore with them, your inner and outer life as they take you from place to place and from chaos to stability.
Little Book of Contemplative Photography: Seeing with wonder, respect, and humility by Howard Zehr (2005). Published by Good Books, PA.
With this book, Zehr makes a gift to anyone who would like to connect photography to seeing and thinking more deeply. In each chapter he offers a Purpose, a Problem, and an Activity with a camera in order to “practice mindfulness.” The author suggests that the value of experiences will be increased if you journal during or after the exercises.
Photo Essays
Photo essays are a wonderful window into the inner lives of different human experiences. Here are a couple of my favourites:
Lonny Shavelson (1986), published by De Novo Press, CA. This book humanizes the experience of “madness” and related treatment, not in abstract jargon but in commonplace language of the wounded. We experience these people with faces and voices of their own, with stories to tell. It is worth asking your library if they can access a copy for you.
Doing Life: Reflections of Men and Women Serving Life Sentences by Howard Zehr.
Long-time advocate of social justice, Zehr suggests that we “tend not to see victims or offenders as real people. We seldom understand crime as it is actually experienced; as a violation of real people by real people.” The author combines photographs and interviews to answer the questions, “What does it mean, for those experiencing it, to be locked up for life, with little or no possibility of ever returning to society?”
Research
An increasing body of research includes photography as a source of data. Studies of the human condition, human experience, and action research have all benefited from the combination of photography and writing.
There is ample evidence that our photography reflects our personal way of seeing the world. As early as 1990, Robert Ziller in Photographing the self: methods of observing personal orientations summarized the use of photography in the study of the self. Since then photography and reflective writing have been used in combination in qualitative studies to explore human experience.
PhotoVoice is a participatory action research method that employs photography and group dialogue as a means for marginalized individuals to deepen their understanding of community issues or concerns.
PhotoVoice believes that everybody should have the opportunity to represent themselves and tell their own story. They work in partnership all over the world on projects and activities that combine ethical photography and community participation to help deliver positive social change.
Strategy of the month – Free Fall Writing
Photography can be combined with almost any writing strategy. In this newsletter we will use “Free Fall writing”.
Place yourself in a setting which you are comfortable. Get into a space of silence and solitude. Let the inner chatter drift away. If the chatter persists, write it down until it subsides.
Then, sit quietly with the photograph (below) in front of you, preferably with it propped against something so you can look at it and it can look back at you. Wait in silence. Begin writing when a voice seems to speak. It may be yours. It may seem to come from the photograph. It is important to simply let the process unfold.
At some point, the flow of ideas will cease. This free fall writing is best done without fussing about sentence structure, spelling, grammar, or logic.
Photo question of the month
What comes to mind when you imagine yourself in this picture?
Please use free-fall writing for your answer.
Images and Echoes: Exploring your life with photography and writing
Images and Echoes: Exploring your life with photography and writing edited by Dr. R. Jevne.
This beautifully illustrated hardcopy book captures the explorations of seventeen women who reveal their stories through writing and images. Join them as they delve into the worlds we commonly call family, work, learning, healing, relationships, and spirituality. Explore with them, your inner and outer life as they take you from place to place; and from chaos to stability.
Creative Guide to Exploring Your Life: Self-Reflection Using Photography, Art, and Writing
Creative Guide to Exploring Your Life: Self-Reflection Using Photography, Art, and Writing by Graham Gordon Ramsay and Holly Barlow Sweet.
This creative guide to exploring and understanding who you are, what you value, and what you wish to achieve brims with imaginative exercises and examples that use the power of photography, art, and writing as tools for self-discovery. It provides clear and accessible guidance on how to explore different parts of your identity. Exercises are accompanied by searching questions for self-reflection, and are complemented by examples of each exercise to provoke ideas and inspiration. Featuring additional guidance for teachers, counselors, and other professionals running the exercises in group settings, this book offers a dynamic and enjoyable way for you to explore different aspects of your life.