iTHINK

It's not just about what we think, but how we communicate what we are thinking. Blogging can be very personal but it can also be very manicured. Our thoughts are not always manicured.



This week we are reflecting on patterns of thinking but these patterns are often shaped by our language. For example in the Chinese language, everything is contextual. Each word has meaning based on the words it is combined with. This shapes the way people relate to the world and the way they relate to one another. In the Chinese culture, life is circular and everything is connected. You cannot have light without dark and one compliments the other.




In the English language, things seem to be more linear, more direct. How does this shape how we interact with one another? We interact head-on. Assertive. We also have a culture of where freedom of speech is honored. Because I was born speaking Chinese, I think this has shaped the foundation of how I see the world. I recently took a personality strengths test at work and found how important connectedness is to me. On the other hand, I have lost much of my Chinese language skills and have grown up in American cultures, speaking the English language. My relationship with these two languages has truly made me adaptable to many different ways of thinking, being and connecting with others. This is one of my most valuable skills in my Social Work.

In reflecting on which hat I wear, I would have to say it depends on where I am at physically and mentally. In one day, I can wear all of them! Because connectedness with others and the world is something which is super important to me,  it is also important for me to understand how I am easily affected by these connections. My most valuable skill in Social Work is also my Kryptonite.


         

                                                                     Kermit gets it...

Balanced Brain

balance

One of the things I love about studying social work is the amount of self-reflection I am assigned. In this week's reflection, I found that I am as just as rational as I am emotional. As much as I like to organize things (even my checkbook), I also love to be an artist (and create mixed-media art from my garbage). 

I personally feel like I am fairly balanced between my right and left brain. This is something that I have noticed since I was a young adolescent. While I am not 100% ambidextrous, I am able to write with both hands pretty well. I also was introduced to this activity while I was an AmeriCorps volunteer which is able to determine and exercise each side of your brain. Which way does the ballerina turn for you and can you get her to turn the other way?

While the ballerina turns right for me upon first glance, I am able to see her from my left brain and switch back and forth. Sometimes it takes me longer than other times but it just means that I must change my focus (literally). I am happy to say that currently in my life I feel like I have a lot of balance. My ballerina spins every which way with a hot pink tutu. I think this has been due to a conscious effort to find balance after experiencing major imbalance at my last job. One year ago, I felt ungrounded and completely right-brained and emotional. Because this job consumed most of my time, I was constantly in a world where everything was abstract. 

Now that I have a job where the hours do not consume my whole life, my job is straightforward and the mission of the work is something that I am proud to stand by, I feel balance again.

Now my world has a foreground, a horizon and identifiable objects.

This is also pretty much what my view is on the other side of my driveway now!

Obstacles

What do your obstacles look like?

Well, right now one of my biggest obstacles is figuring out my last year's internship. I have an opportunity for this upcoming year's internship with my work but I am really concerned with the following year's internship which must be different. It seems as though one of my goals is turning out to be an obstacle to full-time paid work at a place which I really enjoy working at. 

Another obstacle is how I view time. I am often a person who is willing to work really hard but I easily succumb to living in the present moment. In the present moment, it seems best to take full-time work but in the long run, it will be unmanageable and still be able to finish my MSW.

I would have to say though that my biggest obstacles often look like...me.

I guess it just depends on how I view things. For the most part, I'm a glass is half-full kind of gal. I often go by "Lucky Liu" because I really do feel like a have a lot of luck and success because of my optimism. Where I become my own obstacle is when I either am indecisive about something or when my optimism is overkill and I plan on doing too much at once.

I once had a friend/landlord say that you should never regret a decision because at one point, that is what you wanted. I like to think of this advice whenever I change my mind about something :)

How do I plan for the future when I can't see the future?

I don't have an answer for that...