My professor, Cynthia Pittmann, yet again amazed us
with new writing techniques. I often compare this Literature class with a Yoga
class, but with a little plot twist. Instead of exercising the body, we are
exercising our minds. The Life Compass Activity is an example of such exercises. This activity consisted in grading four different aspects of our lives from one to three, one being the lowest and three being the highest. While doing it, some interesting
things became clearer to me. I started to notice tendencies in my days, and how
the different sections of my compass such as, body, mind, emotions and spirit,
had influence on each other. 
In my case, I noticed that when the quantity of my college
work grew, my scores dropped. Especially, in the areas of mind and emotion.
Usually, my spirit stayed with a score of three because I used my spirituality
to strengthen my mood. Therefore, I always tried to have a strong spiritual
life, in order to, balance my overall health. In other topics of the compass,
for example, body, my scores were low (one or a two) only when I hadn’t slept
as I am used to or when I exercised. I didn’t see a connection between my bad
mood and my sore body. However, I did noticed a relation between the scores for
my mind and my emotions. Usually, when I got extremely emotional, my mind lost
focus. For example, I couldn’t study properly or concentrate for almost
anything.Let me show you a graph of my overall scores!
Towards the end of the Life Compass Activity, I
started to draw each compass differently. Some days, my drawings had no
relation to what I was feeling, but other times I tried to connect the drawing
with my scores and feelings.
In conclusion, I noticed through this project that
when I’m not feeling good, the people that I like the most, are usually a good
option to brighten my mood. Also, I’m glad that my body doesn’t get affected
when my emotions are spiraling out of control and my mind is in planet Jupiter.
On the other hand, I definitely have to improve how I channel my emotions
because I can’t keep letting my feeling get in the way of me having a good and
focused day. Furthermore, I’m also glad that I can always rely of my positive perspective
of life (spirituality) to strengthen my other sections of the compass. In my opinion, the Life
Compass helped me organize and analyze my feelings while developing my writing
skills.
(I did some research to look for other ways to get to know myself better. Surprisingly, there was one link that talked about a similar technique as the First Thoughts Activity that my classmates and I have already reflected in our blogs. Apart from writing your thoughts for a period of time, my favorite new thing to do was the idea number five. Take a look at the link and comment your favorite technique. Hope it helps you!)
I had the same situation when the workload was very intense. My scores dropped, and it made me feel lethargic. Also, it contributed to not being able to sleep well, therefore, my mind was a bit clouded and tired. I loved that you tried to connect your compasses' designs with you mood. I should have definitely tried to do the same thing. I would have probably drawn a bed because all I ever want to do is have good night rest.
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with sleeping (still do at times)! Somehow, I just can't get a good night's rest due to all the stress. Nonetheless, I'm glad you enjoyed the activity and kept a positive outlook daily. I quite enjoyed that link you shared. Those methods were interesting. I liked the "Who am I now?" and "Conversation with your 99-year-old self" activities!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to you with the amount of stress I have because of the university. I admire how you always have a good spirit and always look for the positive side of things. Not many know how to do that. I liked the concept of relating your compass drawings with how you felt that day. In regards to the link you added to your entry, I would say that the idea number is my favorite thing to do because it forced me to open up and write about things that bothered me. The exercise picture made me laugh a lot
ReplyDeleteThat picture... Sila, the pictures you find to put on your blog are amazing. I love them so much!
ReplyDeleteLike you, there was one aspect of my life that barely ever fluctuated. But, unlike you, this aspect was the emotional one, not the spiritual one. I always tried to keep my emotions high because thinking positive is a thousand times better than thinking negative.
And from your link I tried out two techniques that I admit were both interesting and eye opening. "I don't want to write about-" and "Things I love" really made me think about my life and what truly matters, and for that I thank you. Now I have more than just the Life Compass and Reflective Journal to try and figure out my inner psyche!